Our Perfect Relationship Version 2
by Awkwardauthor
Summary: Valentine's Day is the holiday when love is in the air, so when the holiday blossoms love between Bella and Edward, they'll face the highs and lows of their newfound relationship. Canon pairs, rated M for eventual smut.
1. The Mystery Guy

**Hi guys! This story has been dead for quite some time (by dead I mean five years lol), but a couple of recent reviews wanting me to complete the story made me reconsider undoing its discontinued status. So I thought "Well, I'm in a better place with my fanfic writing. Why not finish what I started." Now keep in mind that I wrote OPR when I was 12-YEARS-OLD. It started out as a one-shot, but because I had reviews that wanted me to continue it, I did. Of course, life got in the way and I couldn't finish the fic. High school was a rough time for me and I didn't have the heart to see it through.**

 **I can't disappoint you guys. I've kinda forgotten how the rest of the story was supposed to go, though I will keep it at 10 chapters like I intended long ago. As you can see, the rating is now M, and that's because I'm gonna try to write some smutty scenes (because fanfictioneers live for lemons). I had some practice for danisnotonfire x reader one-shots over on my Tumblr page, and I think revamping this fic is a good way to showcase what I picked up as I learned how to write smut.**

 **My writing has evolved over the years, so I decided to keep the old OPR separate from this version. This new and improved version of OPR will stick close to the original as possible, give and take spelling/grammar changes and be less cheesy. Because let's face it, when you're 12, your idea of love is cute and filled with too much fluff.**

 **Without further ado, I present to you OPR bigger and better before! If you're new to this story, enjoy your first read-through. Otherwise, I'm so sorry for making you wait this long and I hope this new version will live up to your expectations.**

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Valentine's Day: the holiday I wish I can sleep the day through. It's the most awkward day of the year for me, watching couple after couple express their love for the world to see. Now don't get me wrong. I don't _hate_ Valentine's Day. It is the ideal holiday for people that don't have boyfriends or girlfriends to confess their feelings to someone they like. But they don't need a holiday to help them find love. Love is every day of the year.

Then again, my idea of love cultivated from years of pinning my heart for a single guy. Several guys in Forks High have tried to ask me out (I'll admit, some of them were quite attractive), but I always turned them down. None of them have captured my heart the way Edward Cullen did.

Edward Cullen: Forks High's golden boy. He's a quarterback of the school's football team and president of the math team. He's a triple threat: athletic, intelligent, and insanely popular. Like many of the girls in our junior class, I adore him. It's rare for someone like Edward to be have brains to go along with his looks. Unlike most of the girls that swarm him during school days, I like him because of his intelligence. Even if he wasn't a football player, I'd still be interested in him. Nevertheless, his genuine personality is the reason why I have a huge crush on him.

I'm a bit of a shy girl, so it's difficult for me to approach him when his army of admirers are around him. The only times I can talk to him freely is when we have the same classes together. This year, I have him for Biology and English, and I'm pretty lucky to have him as a lab partner for Biology. He also has his two best friends, Emmett McCarthy and Jasper Whitlock, dating my two best friends, Rosalie Hale and Alice Brandon, respectively. With the connections between our ring of friends, we have occasional moments outside of school when the six of us get to hang out together and I can talk to Edward without the prying ears of students at school. Edward and I are casual friends, but it doesn't change the fact that we come from different worlds. My world is books, music, and confidence I wish to have being lived out by my best friends. His world is football, leadership, and confidence that seems to come off from him naturally.

He even has a girlfriend. Or _had_ a girlfriend, since he and Tanya broke up just before the start of the new semester. Tanya is the head cheerleader of the cheerleading squad, and everyone looked up to her and Edward as a couple. Alice, Rose, and I aren't the biggest fans of Tanya. No matter how nice Tanya is around their peers, the three of us know her true nature. Once Tanya is envious or jealous about something, her nice exterior fades and her bitchy persona shows.

It's no wonder that she and Edward are no longer together. Edward must have seen enough of Tanya's bitchy side that he finally had enough and broke up with her. When their 14-month relationship ended, so did their relationship's admirers. With a now single Edward Cullen walking the halls of Forks High without Tanya by his side, the female portion of the student body are dying to score a date with the school's hottest available bachelor.

I'm strolling along the drenched parking lot of Forks High with Alice and Rose. Alice is chattering excitedly about recent gossip she heard from our fellow classmates, while Rose is glancing at me with her shiny sapphire eyes with a I-don't-know-what-she's-talking-about-either look.

Alice's switches the topic of conversation. "And speaking of Valentine's Day, where the hell is Edward? He should be here by now, surrounded by his hyperactive fans. No offense, Bella."

"None taken," I mutter. I'm not in the mood of associating Edward with Valentine's Day. The holiday is a reminder that my closeness with Edward isn't enough for me to deserve being to walk alongside him as his girlfriend.

"And while we're on the subject, why don't you ask him out?" Alice questions.

"Because-" I prompt. I've gone over the subject with them many times since Edward and Tanya broke up. "The popular guy doesn't always end up with the ordinary girl. Real life isn't Hollywood, Aly."

"But it's Valentine's Day! This is your chance to try." Alice jumps up and down eagerly. "At least just try."

"We'll see." An ambiguous response is my only way for shutting her up about the subject.

Alice's phone buzzes in her skirt's pocket. She takes it out and stares at the screen for a few seconds before putting it away. "Sorry hons. Gotta go meet Jasper. I'll see you later!" She gives us a quick wave before dashing into the school.

Rose shakes her head in amusement. "Alice… what'll we ever do with her."

"Ditto," I agree.

Rose and I walk into the school, ignoring the infatuated stares of boys aimed in our direction. We watch as Tanya and her two best friends, Kate and Irina, walk pass us, the trio's arms linked together. Tanya has a radiant smile on her face, but her eyes say otherwise. She's still clearly frustrated about her breakup with Edward.

"Still can't believe the ice queen looks normal after Edward dumped her," Rose sneers. She's the one that hates Tanya the most out of the three of us. Rose hasn't let go of the time Tanya poured grape juice on her head when Rose was voted homecoming queen during our sophomore year over her.

My response is a shrug. I've grown quite used to hearing Rose's verbal hatred over Tanya.

We have fifteen minutes until homeroom starts. At the lockers, we run into Emmett and Edward. I smile as Emmett gives Rose a dozen of roses and three heart-shaped balloons. I blush as they have a borderline make-out session in front of Edward and I. Once their drawn out kiss ends, Rose gives me a bright goodbye before walking off with Emmett to who-knows-where. Probably somewhere where they can continue that make-out session without Edward and I as witnesses.

Speaking of Edward…

Crap.

I'm alone with him.

My cheeks flush. _Happy Valentine's Day, Swan._

"Hi Bella," Edward greets.

"Hi," I answer. I should have seen this coming. The coward part of me wants to come up with an excuse to leave, but my legs stay rooted to the floor. Besides, I'm talking to one of the hottest guys in Forks High. Any girl would kill to be in my position right now.

"Heading to homeroom?" he asks. We both have Mrs. Cole for homeroom, so there's no way I can avoid that.

"Yeah." I'm so nervous that I can only reply in one-word, one-syllable, responses.

"So ummm… happy Valentine's Day."

"You too." So much for the one-syllable thing.

We're silent for a minute before I respond. "Sorry about your breakup with Tanya."

He scowls at my comment, then bobs his head up and down. "Same here, though I don't feel all that sorry. In fact, I'm glad I broke things off."

"Why? I thought you were happy with her. Why did you even go out with her in the first place?"

He sighs. "We were never really going out. We only went out with each other to protect our reputations. She's the one that likes me, but I never reciprocated her feelings."

"But… you two kiss." I had to look away every time they did so.

"We only kissed in public. I felt tired of living a lie that I decided to end things once and for all. She wanted to believe we were really a couple, but everything about our whole relationship was fake. And… well… Tanya didn't take the breakup well…" He leaves his last sentence hanging.

"Does anyone else know about this?" I say in a hushed tone. If this leaked out, I have a feeling that more girls will throw themselves at him.

"Only Em and Jas."

I nod. "So… why are you telling me this?"

He shrugs. "Em and Jas will eventually tell Alice and Rosalie, and of course your friends would tell you too. You might as well know now than later."

I grin. I feel honored that I'm one of the few people that knows about this. "Thanks for telling me. And I swear, I won't tell anyone."

We reach Mrs. Cole's classroom. The door is open and Mrs. Cole is sitting at her teacher's desk at the front of the room. A few students are already present, each reading a book, doing homework, or chatting with their friends. I catch a couple of girls giggle as Edward walks to his seat.

As soon as I walk into the room, I gape at the sight of my desk. My feet are frozen, my eyes centering on the extravagant laid out on the wooden surface of my desk.

 _Holy shit._

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~:~

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It could have been seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, perhaps even centuries that I stared at my desk.

There's a small mocha-colored teddy bear holding a red rose in its furry hands with a red-and-white striped heart-shaped box next to it. A piece of paper folded neatly in two is tucked between the bear's ears. I approach my desk and grab the note. My name is written in a handwriting that's unfairly flawless. As I unfold the paper, I also notice that the note isn't signed.

I quickly read the words written in black ink. **_I didn't spend much. If you'd like to know who sent you this, meet me at the lockers after school at 3. See you there, beautiful._**

Who would send me a gift like this? And what boy can write in amazing cursive loops like that?

 _Guess I have to wait for a few hours till I meet my mystery guy._

I plop down on my chair. I open up my backpack and drop the gift inside. I can't let anyone else see this. If Tanya sees it, she might get the wrong idea and think that Edward was the one that gave it to me.

When homeroom starts, Mrs. Cole gives us the entire 30 minutes to play a game of our choice. As expected, everyone , including me, voted on a PG game of Spin the Bottle. After all, I'd rather play Spin the Bottle when I could likely go the whole game without the bottle pointing at me than Pictionary when everyone in the room is forced to play.

Luckily, I went the whole game without being picked. I do feel a little sympathy for Angela when Eric dared Mike to kiss her in front of all of us. Angela and Ben, however, are a couple, though PDA isn't something that they like to do.

Once homeroom is over, I head to English class. My brain is a jumble throughout the entire period as we orally read through an act from Hamlet. Everyone's voices were mumbles in my ears. All I could think about is my mystery guy. I'm distracted by my mysterious Valentine's Day gift giver that before I knew it, I'm eating lunch at the bustling cafeteria with Alice and Rose during lunch period.

The girls are squealing in excitement once I tell them about my unknown Valentine.

"Finally, girl!" Rose exclaims. "This guy has great taste."

"So who do you think is it?" Alice questions.

"I dunno," I tell Alice. "Whoever it is, I'm meeting him after school to find out."

Seconds later, the suggestions of who my mystery guy begins.

"Might be Mike Newton. He's always got his eyes on our B." Which he needs to stop doing. Can't the boy take a hint?

"What about Eric? He asked her out once." That was two years ago. He's over me.

"Let's not count out Tyler. He tried asking her to prom last week." Who I didn't say yes to. I'm not going to be someone's last resort.

"Oh! It could be Lee! He stares at her as much as Mike." Which is way more creepier than Mike.

I tune out my friends' conversation. The only clue I have about my mystery guy is the flawless handwriting on the note. There are no guys that I know of that has that handwriting. Surely a perfect handwriting like that belongs to a perfect guy, right? I shouldn't get my expectations up too high. But a girl can hope, right?

Rose waves her hand in front of my face. "Hello! Earth to Bella!"

I blink. "Sorry. Just thinking about something." I switch the topic. "So Aly, what did Jas give to you?"

Alice beams. She flashes her right wrist to us, revealing a silver bracelet with a lock-and-key charm. "Jas gave me this. He says I'm the key that unlocked his heart."

"Classic Jas." For a 16-year-old, he puts the gentleman in southern gentleman.

We spend the rest of our lunch break finishing our lunches. When the bell rings, we say our goodbyes and go to our respective next periods.

Only a couple more hours. I can't wait to see who my mystery guy is.

* * *

~:~

* * *

I stand in the near-empty hallway, leaning against my locker. Everyone has either left school grounds or hanging out with their friends outside the building. It's two minutes until three and I'm waiting anxiously for my mystery Valentine to show up. With most of the student body nowhere in sight, it's safe for me to have the gift out of my backpack and in my hands. Holding it will be my way to let my Valentine know how much I appreciate his gift.

A dark silhouette walks toward me from the north end of the hall. As the figure inches closer to see, I could make out his features.

I gasp. It's Edward.

"Hi Bella," he says for the second time today.

I'm speechless. Is this happening? Is this true. "You… you sent me this?"

He nods. "All of it is from me."

"But… why? You're the most popular and maybe the most hottest guy in the school. Why send a Valentine to a dork like me?"

He shakes his head, stepping closer to me until our faces are centimeters apart. My body grows warmer at our close proximity. "I bought those things because I like you, Bella. I've liked you since the first day of school." He chuckles. "If you haven't noticed, I like brunette girls with chocolate brown eyes with real intelligence, a sense of humor and cares more about school than partying all night long."

"R-really?" I stutter.

"Yeah." He brings his hand up, laying his palms on my cheeks. "My main reason for breaking up with Tanya is because I want to be with you. I really want to be your boyfriend."

 _FUCK, EDWARD CULLEN IS ASKING ME TO BE HIS GIRLFRIEND._ This isn't a dream. It's real. My perfect guy is telling me that he likes me too.

"I… wow."

He gazes at me timidly. "Do you like me too?"

 _Of course I do!_ Still in a state of shock, I'm unable to get the words out of my mouth. Instead, I give him the biggest grin I can muster and repetitive nods.

He mirrors my grin, and he does the one thing that every boy does to a girl that he likes.

He kisses me.

I squeak. His lips feels soft and slightly chapped. The teddy bear and box slips from my hands, landing on the floor with a light thud. I snake my arms around his neck, matching the same pressure of his lips with mine.

Our lips are locked in a seemingly never-ending dance. I wish this moment can last forever.

I break away sometime later, gasping for air. So this is what good kisses are like.

Edward laughs, picking up my gift from the floor. "Didn't know you're a great kisser."

"I have an inner vixen," I tell him cheekily.

He smiles, kissing my cheek. "So… be my girlfriend?"

This time, I don't stay quiet. "Of course. I don't have hot make-out sessions with anyone."

He smirks. "Good, because your lips are the only ones I'd want to be kissing for the rest of my life."

"That was corny. You need to work on your pick-up lines, Cullen."

"As you wish, beautiful."

He holds out his right hand to me, and I hold his hand with mine.

Maybe Valentine's Day isn't so bad a holiday after all.

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 **So yeah! Changed the grammar, added some new things. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I'll be juggling on updates between this and my Phan story (which you can check out if you're into Dan and Phil fanfics). And just like my former author's note, I'd love to know what you think of V2 of OPR!**

 **~ AA**


	2. First Date?

**Holy shit. Okay. *Takes a moment to breathe* I didn't expect OPR to garner this much attention. Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows! If you've already read through the old version, then you know what happens. But if you didn't spoil yourself, I commend you.**

 **Sorry if it's a little late. I was supposed to post last week but I was studying for my pharmacology exam and I didn't finish retyping the entire chapter until last night. I don't have the original document of the fic, so I'm basically typing everything from scratch. Yay me.**

 **To ease the confusion, bolded italics in the fic will represent a flashback or text message and regular italics will represent Bella's thoughts.**

 **Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read.**

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One week has passed since Valentine's Day. Seven glorious, millions-of-butterflies-fluttering-in-my-stomach, how-the-fuck-this-even-happened-but-it-did, days since I agreed to be Edward's girlfriend. The entire student body went into a frenzy when the news broke out. On school days, they wouldn't leave us alone. Edward's dedicated, _kinder_ female fanatics think that we're the most cutest couple they've ever seen (there are debates about whether our couple name should be Edella or Belward), though we did have to deal with the backlash from the dedicated, jealous girls who can't accept that Edward is, once again, off the market.

I smile when I think back to Valentine's Day. If I thought the student body's reaction to our relationship was priceless, it's the reactions I saw from certain people minutes after my moment with Edward in the hallway that's the most memorable.

 _ **We walk out of the double doors of the building holding hands. My head is still reeling over the events that happened within the last several minutes. Edward admitted to liking me and gave me my first real kiss. My first kiss was with one of my childhood friends, Brady, during the summer before I started high school, though we only did it to get our first kisses over with. That kiss wasn't as magical as I hoped it would be, so when Edward had kissed me, I finally understood what girls meant when they say that sparks fly when they're kissing guys.**_

 _ **The cool February air breezes across my face as I take it all in. This morning, I was Bella Swan, a single dork with plans to spend Valentine's Day with a bucket of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Now, I'm Bella Swan, girlfriend to my dream guy who has an army of girls about to slaughter me once they find out Edward and I are an official couple.**_

 _ **Speaking of his army of girls, I notice their awed faces as soon as they notice our intertwined hands. Their eyes scrutinize me, their faces a mix of emotions: confusion, curiosity, happiness, and, of course, jealousy.**_

 _ **My own eyes seek out Tanya, Kate, and Irina. Their reactions are the ones that I'm most terrified of, especially Tanya. When I find them, I immediately wish I avoided their stares. While Kate and Irina stare at me as if I'm some sort of mystical creature at the zoo, Tanya stares at me as if I stole one of her most prized possessions. Then again, I think Edward is her most prized possession. If looks could kill, one look at Tanya's toxic eyes would make me my heart stop beating within seconds.**_

 _ **Amidst the lingering bystanders, I find Alice and Rose standing a few feet away from the blonde trio. Their eyes gleam with excitement. Rose says something to Alice, causing my pixie-haired best friend to pull out her phone. A few seconds later, my own phone vibrates in the front pocket of my jeans.**_

 _ **I fish it out. It's a text from Alice.** Don't have to guess who mystery ur guy is. Just promise to give me the deets later! 3_

 _ **Edward grins and pecks me on the cheek. I blush as I fire a response.** You'll get em. I'll tell ya more tonight_

 _ **I shove my phone back into my pocket. When I look up, the stares, which has now included several guys, are still there. Edward merely smiles and makes a curt nod at them. He leads me down the steps of the building and into his black Volvo. Due to the surprised expressions still evident on everyone's faces, no one made a move toward us. At least we didn't have to worry about being grilled by the public yet.**_

 _ **Sheltered by the privacy inside his car, he goes in for a second kiss. This time, I let go of my inhibitions and fall into the make-out session that I'm eager to drown into.**_

 _ **First times are the best, but second times are just as sweet.**_

The last seven days were spent getting to know Edward more as a person. Because of our limited times together, there were many things that I was unaware about Edward's life. Prior to Valentine's Day, the only personal details I knew about him are the careers of his family (which all of his fangirls know): his father, Carlisle, is a physician specializing in internal medicine at Forks' general hospital, while his father, Esme, is the owner of Midnight Sun, a popular restaurant in Port Angeles. His parents are a happily married couple, unlike my parents, who went through a bittersweet divorce when I was three. My mother, Renee, lives in Arizona with her new husband Phil, so I've been living with my father, Charlie, in dreary Forks for practically my entire life.

Throughout our days together as a couple, I learned that he has a passion for sports, music, and books. When he isn't playing football, he plays basketball and soccer with the boys or swims around at the swimming pool in his backyard. He likes all genres of music, though he has a main preference for classical music. He knows how to play the piano and guitar, which he demoed for me a few times, resulting in yours truly feeling as if my legs were replaced with Jell-O. He reads every night before he goes to bed, and he has admitted to shedding a tear while reading John Green's _A Fault in Our Stars_. He's currently reading Amy Tan's _The Joy Luck Club_ , which he promised to let me borrow once he finishes his copy.

Learning these things about Edward shapes him more into the perfect guy that I perceive him as. It makes me feel good to think that I'm one of the few people that knows the things about his life that he hides from everyone else. It proves that he trusts me that much, which is a lot for me to take in. How the hell did I capture his heart without even trying? This boy needs a shrine for being the type of boy that every male should aspire to be. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if one of his gutsy fans already has an Edward statue at home that she kneels down to every night before she goes to sleep.

I'm currently at Edward's house, my feet propped on his lap as we work on our U.S history homework. It's 4:55 PM and we've been busy with our homework for the last half hour. Mr. Lennings is one of the teachers in Forks High that, to Edward and I, actually does his job well as a teacher by giving us worksheets to do for every day that we have his class. He's one of the nicest teachers I've ever had, and he even teaches the material in a way the dumbest person in the world could understand. Alas, his lenient teaching style isn't enough for all of his students to appreciate him. The students that dislike Lennings call him "Mr. Loser" behind his back. It isn't even amusing, hence why those students are failing or close to failing his class.

"Hey Bella?" Edward speaks after the last several minutes in comfortable silence. You'd think that I'd be distracted by his presence to get any work down, but it's quite the opposite. I'm more relaxed when I'm with him. I keep myself motivated with the thought that as soon as I can get my work done, the sooner that I can have my EC kisses. EC kisses are just as addicting as my favorite candy, Smarties.

"What's up?"

"When will we go on our first date?"

I give myself a mental facepalm. We haven't gone on a real date yet. We've been so wrapped up on school, meeting each other's parents, and getting to know each other on our free time that I've forgotten about the one thing that every relationship is supposed to have. We did the meet-the-parents phase before the first date phase. Talk about a somewhat backwards relationship.

"I dunno."

He sets his worksheet, binder, and pen to the side. "I have no plans this weekend. Do you want to go on a date on Saturday?"

I beam. "I'm in. Where do you wanna go?"

He shrugs. "Any ideas?"

"Movies?" I suggest. It's safe, standard, and there's a new Marvel film that I'm interested in watching.

"Too common." _Sorry, Chris Evans. Looks like I'll have to eye-fuck you another day._

"McDonald's?" I have a soft spot for Big Macs.

He scrunches his nose "You deserve better than cheap greasy fast food, beautiful."

 _God, I'll never get tired of hearing him call me beautiful._ "A bar?" There's a club in Port Angeles Rose told me about that accepts club-goers that are 16 and above.

He chuckles. "As much as I'd like to see you dress up for me, I'm not ready to share you with 30-something horny men."

I snort. No 30-something man is a match for my Edward. "Strip club."

"Bella, now you're just teasing me."

I giggle. The only man I'd want to see stripping is the one sitting next to me. "How about a double date?" If we went with Alice or Jasper or Rose and Emmett, at least we'd be with another couple that can chase away any silent awkward moments that could happen between us.

He mulls this over for a few seconds, then smiles. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"Awesome! Which couple do you want to bring with us?"

"Better idea: why don't you bring both of them? We can triple date. I can order a pizza and the three of us can watch a movie."

Pizza and a movie. Now that's my ideal first date. "Done. Lemme text Alice right now." Between the three of us, Alice has texting thumbs as quick as a fangirl ordering tickets for a One Direction concert.

I unplug my phone from the charger (he lets me charge my electronics whenever I come over) and send a text to Alice. **_Sooooo I asked Edward on a date_**

Alice's response comes less than half a minute later. **_U go girl! Where's he taking you?_**

 _ **Edward wants to triple date his house. You & Jas wanna come?**_ Saturdays are reserved for Rose and Alice's date nights with the boys, so I hope they can sacrifice one date night alone to spend it with Edward and I instead.

 _ **Of course we will! Anything for my bestie that finally has a man. Is Rose coming too?**_

 _And what a fine man he is. **I'll ask her soon. Edward's ordering pizza & I'll bring drinks so all you gotta do is show up**_

 _ **Show up I will. ;)**_ Alice will show up. I know she will. If she doesn't, my closet is big enough to hide her shoes so I can raid her footwear collection. Sometimes, she loves her shoes more than she loves Jasper.

I text Rose about the date too. Like Alice, she swears that she'll be there with Emmett.

Satisfied with having our plans set, I plug my phone back to its charger.

"All set," I tell Edward.

"It's a date?"

"It's a date."

He grins. He stares at me for several seconds before he grabs my face with his hands and presses his lips to mine. I tug on locks on his hair as he maneuvers us so my back lies on his bedsheets. Will I ever get used to kissing Edward? I don't think I will.

If kissing him can be this great, then I hope Saturday night should be just as good.

* * *

 **I swear I'll have the next chapter up by next week. If not, the following week. I don't wanna keep you guys hanging too long.**


	3. Triple Date Truths

"Stop fidgeting, beautiful. It's not going to be that bad." We're sitting on the couch, in our pajamas, in Edward's living room, waiting for our friends to arrive. The pizza arrived a couple minutes ago, and the Dominoes boxes are set on the coffee table along with cans of soda that I bought from the grocery store before I came to Edward's house. Tonight is the night for our triple date, and despite the fact that our friends will be in attendance, I still have some nerves rattling through my body.

"Says you. You've never been to a sleepover with Aly, Rose, and I before."

"Bella, it's dinner and a movie at my house. There's nothing to be afraid of. What's the worst that can happen?"

 _Uh, I can think of a few good reasons._ "What if I end up having to stop another cat-fight between them?" The last time Alice and Rose fought with each other, it was over being my plus one for two movie tickets I won for being the 150th caller for a radio show when we were in 9th grade.

"Nonsense." He gives me a reassuring smile. "Em and Jas have manly arguments all the time. That's not gonna stop us from having a good time."

"True." I scoot myself closer to Edward so my head leans against his shoulder. "Remind me again why we're not being a normal couple and eating at some middle-class restaurant for a first date."

"Because." He angles his head to look down at me. "Being normal is a boring paved road. You are anything but normal. Therefore, that makes you much more exciting, just like this relationship."

 _Dammit. He's got me there._ "And remind me again why we aren't doing this home date alone sans two crazy couples."

"Because if we're alone, we might pull off an Austin and Ally moment when we try too hard to make a first date perfect."

I nod in agreement. Austin and Ally were close friends, and look what happened to them when they pursued a relationship for the first time. Even though I know Edward and I wouldn't be like Austin and Ally and become people we aren't just to solidify a perfect first date, it's better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather have our best friends around to tease and cockblock us with romantic gestures between us than to be sitting in awkward silence with my dream boyfriend.

I shouldn't overreact. Despite being Edward's girlfriend for two weeks, I'm more comfortable around him than with any other boy in my life. I want to make this work. For that to happen, I have to trust that the triple date will go along smoothly and I'll still have a boyfriend by the end of the night.

Edward looks as if he's about to kiss me when the doorbell rings. _Speaking of cockblocking._ With an internal shake of my head, I stand and head to the front door. When I open the door, I find our four friends waiting outside, each holding white plastic bags in their hands.

"Yo, B!" Emmett booms. "Let's get the party started!"

Rose swats his shoulder. "There'll be no party here tonight. If you wanted a party, we could've gone to Emily's."

"Babe, I was kidding. You know I'd rather be here than anywhere else tonight."

"Sure," Jasper mutters.

I laugh. "Save your banters for later. Now get inside, you weirdos."

Alice, Rose, Emmett, and Jasper step inside the house, removing their footwear as they do. It's been a while since the six of us were all together under one roof. We're usually eating out at a restaurant or hanging out at the beach whenever we're together. We're rarely all together at someone's house, and when we do, it's always at Alice's or Rose's.

We organize the food and drinks on the coffee table before grabbing what we want to eat on white paper plates that Jasper provided. I'm taking a slice of pepperoni pizza when Alice brings up the one thing I hoped to avoid during the date.

"So… who wants to do a Secret Session?"

 _Not me._ Secret Sessions is exactly what the name entails. Alice, Rose, and I have been doing this since we were nine during our weekend sleepovers. It's not that I hate Secret Sessions, but it's just that I usually feel awkward whenever we do so. Basically, we have to share one secret, no matter how big or small it is, that the rest of us are unaware of. If we refuse to share a secret, we have to do a dare from the other people present in the room (in this case, two). And trust me when I say that Alice and Rose are pure evil when they come up with dares. I ended up with whipped cream between my ass crack on one of the dares when I was 12.

"What's that?" Edward questions.

Rose grins. "It's a tradition that Alice, Bella, and I do whenever we have sleepovers. All you have to do is share one secret that no one in the room doesn't know about you. "

Interest flickers in Edward eyes. "What if you don't want to share a secret?"

Alice looks at him mischievously. "Then you have to do a dare from every person that's playing the game. Since there's six of us, if you forfeit to tell a secret, you have to do five dares."

"Like truth or dare?"

"Yup, but 100 times better."

Emmett mirrors Rose and Alice's expressions. "Secrets? I'm in. There's nothing about Rose I don't already know."

Rose raises an eyebrow in challenge. "You'll be surprised."

Jasper laughs, pouring Cheetos on his paper plate. "I'm in for a game of juicy truths."

"Mmmm… juicy," Emmett teases. He darts his eyes at me. "I'm sure Lil B's secret could be extra juicy."

I groan. _Emmett and his perverted mind._ Curse Alice for bringing Secret Sessions up. I had a secret saved up for my next sleepover with the girls, and now I'll probably have to share it tonight since I have nothing else remotely interesting to share.

"You don't have to do it," Edward murmurs in my ear, sensing my discomfort. "If you won't do it, I won't too."

I shake my head. "It's okay. Secret Sessions aren't the worst thing in the world."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

We start Secret Sessions as soon as we pile up our plates with food and have our drinks. Rose eagerly volunteers to go first, which gives me a bit of relief. I hate being put on the spot, and it's worse when I have to be the first person when I'm put on the spot.

Rose glances between Alice and I. "Remember Royce King?"

"Duh," Alice says. "Playboy, had an obsession on you in middle school."

Rose nods. "Well, remember when I told you two that I never wanted to speak who was my first kiss?"

 _Who could forget?_ While Alice is proud of having Jasper as her first kiss when we were in 10th grade, Rose despised talking about hers. As her best friends, Alice and I respected her decision of refusing to talking about her first kiss, whoever it was. "Because it was terrible and he's like Voldemort for being a guy that shall not be named?"

Rose chuckles. "Exactly. Well, Royce was he-who-shall-not-be-named."

Alice gasps. "No."

"You're kidding," I second.

"Nope." Rose pops a Dorito into her mouth. "Aly, Bels, you know that Royce was the first guy that ever asked me out." She looks toward the boy. "This was back in 7th grade when all the girls we knew at school were going on first dates." She sighs. "What you didn't know was when the date ended, Royce stole my first kiss. I didn't want to kiss him, but he practically attacked my lips when he took me home."

"He must've been a slob," Jasper remarks.

"He put trash to shame," Rose agrees. "Anyway, I slapped him afterward and told him he was the worst kisser in the world. I made him swear not to tell anybody about it, because if he did, I would've chopped off his nuts in the middle of the night."

I giggle, recalling Royce's odd distance from Rose the Monday following their weekend date. "So that's why Royce started keeping his distance from you."

"Good thing too." Emmett loops his arm around Rose possessively. "If I caught that Royce going after my Rosie, I would've literally chopped up his nuts and fed them to the squirrels."

Rose set the bar up pretty high. I thought she'd never reveal to Alice and I about her first kiss. If this is her way of helping to make my first date with Edward memorable, I owe her big time.

"My turn!" Alice chirps. "I've been dying to tell you this all week. So this happened last Friday during lunch when I was heading to Mr. Banner's class to meet with Jas. While I walked up the stairs, I overheard Tanya and Stefan talking in front of one of the classrooms. I didn't catch what their conversation was, but next I knew, I saw them kissing each other. All I did was stand there in shock, 'cause what else would you do when you see a queen bee and a dude on steroids making out?"

I gape. Tanya and Stefan? There's only Stefan I know that looks like he's on steroids, and that's Stefan Romano.

Five pairs of shocked eyes lock onto Alice. I shift my stare to look at Edward, anticipating his reaction.

"Wow" is all he can say.

"Yes wow," Alice tells him. "So you don't have to worry about the queen of bitches no longer."

Edward remains quiet for several seconds before he responds with a curt nod. "Good riddance. Thank you for that… secret."

Reminder: ask Edward for his full reaction about Tanya and Stefan once our friends are gone. On the bright side, if Stefan is Tanya's new boy toy, she might lessen her pile of crap on me.

 _Yeah right._ It's Tanya. She'll find some way to ruin me.

"Me next!" Emmett volunteers. "It's not much, but it came to me as soon as our resident pixie said Secret Session."

Rose pats his back. "Any secret is a good secret. It can't be that bad."

"Oh, it is." Emmett takes a bite of his slice of pizza. "About a year ago, I had one of those weekends when I didn't feel like going out to a party. While I was going through my Facebook news feed on my laptop, I heard these strange sounds coming from my parents' room. I leaned my ears against the wall and the first thing I heard was old cheesy romantic music. Then I heard groans and curse words that you should never hear 40 plus people moan during their sexy time."

I slap my hand over my mouth, stifling my fit of giggles. _Sexy time? That's a new word for sex I could use._

"So that's why you were desperate to crash over at my house that night," Jasper says.

Emmett's face flushes in embarrassment. "It would've been so much worse if I saw them going at it, but hearing it was bad enough."

"At least you got that… secret out of your system," Edward says.

"Uh-huh. And now I feel a lot better."

Jasper smiles. "Can I go next?"

"Sure," Alice answers.

Jasper looks at us thoughtfully. "Just promise me you won't tell anyone. If anyone else in Forks knows about this, I might have to move out the country."

"We promise," Alice assures him, kissing his cheek. "What's revealed in Secret Sessions stays within the walls of where it's told. Besides, the only people I tell my secrets to are already in the room."

"Thanks." Jasper looks at the rest of us. "You know I like to watch a lot of TV, right? Except for Eddie over there who has his head stuck in a book a lot."

We react with mutual nods, while Edward rolls his eyes mockingly over the book comment.

"I was at my relatives' house for the holidays when I was 13. My aunt and uncle from my mom's side have a thing for foreign TV shows, so their TV has subscriptions to all sorts of channels from different countries. I was in the living room scrolling through channels while my family was out for the day. For some reason, the remote stopped cooperating with me all of a sudden and the TV landed on this channel called TFC. It was playing this dramatic scene where this woman slapped a teen boy's face who I assumed was her son. I was intrigued by what was happening that I couldn't help but watch the rest of the show. By the time it was done, I ended up watching two more hours of different TV series on that channel. I may have went through a bit of a Kleenex box once I turned the TV off."

The room is silent for a minute, then Emmett guffaws.

"What the hell? We might as well put a skirt and tube top on you and get you some lipstick," he jokes.

Alice clutches her stomach in her laughter. "Wow, baby. Didn't know you could be such a softie. What's the name of this show?"

Jasper's face goes red. "I dunno. It was in an Asian language. Filipino, I think." He looks toward Edward. "You're up."

I turn my head and notice Edward trying to hold back a huff. Something tells me this secret of his could be something he doesn't want to spill.

"You don't have to do it," I tell him in a hushed voice, repeating his words to me earlier. "I'll make your dare easy."

He shakes his head. "Em and Jas didn't forfeit, so I won't too." He takes a deep breath, then speaks louder so everyone can hear. "I was eight when this happened. I was walking around the neighborhood with my mom. I saw this white thing on the ground, so naturally as a little kid I couldn't help but pick it up. I thought the white thing at first was a rock, but it turned out to be gum." He bites his lip. "I tried to get it off, but it wouldn't budge, so I ended up having to walk the rest of the way with the gum still stuck on my hand. As soon as I got home, I rushed to the bathroom so I could rinse it off. Unfortunately, I accidentally touched my hair with the gum in my hand and… ummm… it got stuck in my hair." He reaches for my hand and squeezes it. "I got a pair of scissors from my room to try to cut it out, but I was panicking so much that I unintentionally gave myself a haircut at the same time. There was a bald spot at the back of my head."

I stare at Edward for a long moment. _A 20% bald Edward? Now that's something I wish I could've seen._ I mentally laugh at the image of a younger version with an Edward with a missing patch of bronze hair.

"No wonder you insisted on having a hat on your head when we were little," Jasper says. "That was what that was all about?"

Edward nods.

"So you were a bald eagle," Emmett jokes.

Edward chuckles. "I guess I was."

Alice grins. "Boys." She darts her eyes at me. "And last but not least."

Last. As expected. Someone should put me on a pedestal with the superlative of "Most Likely to Be Picked Last on Everything in Life."

Everyone shared something interesting. If I say something boring, the boys could give me shit. The only secret I could share is something I'd take to the grave. It's the one secret that I'm not ready to tell Edward yet. Who knows what his reaction will be? On one hand, he'll be extremely delighted. On the other hand, it could go downhill where he ends up thinking I'm similar to Tanya.

 _Ugh… just get it over with, Swan. You trust these people. They won't tell anyone. Not even Emmett, because you'll be Rose and chop his balls off if he utters a word._

"Well…"

* * *

 **The original version had the date at Alice's house, but I thought it was more practical for it to be at Edward's.**

 **The Austin and Ally (Disney channel show) reference is based on the episode where the two went on their first date and it was so awkward they broke up by the end of the ep. Goes to show that even though you know a person well and are comfortable around them, there's no telling what can happen during a first date. People tend to try too hard to make a first date perfect, and because of that, they miss out on the fact that the date is more perfect when you're acting like yourself with any silly mishaps that may occur. Just wanted to clear that up for those who wondered why Bella and Edward opted for the triple first date instead of a standard one-on-one.**

 **The dramatic scene Jasper mentioned is a reference to the common hand-slapping scenes in Filipino teleseryes. They're my favorite scenes to watch whenever I binge-watch my Filipino soaps.**


	4. A Not So Innocent Swan

I take one careful look at my friends. They're staring at me intently, waiting to hear what I'll say.

"It's… a little embarrassing," I say shyly.

"Don't be, B," Jasper assures me. "You don't want to have to do five dares, do you?"

I shake my head in response.

Edward winds his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to his body. "Don't be scared, beautiful. I can handle what you'll tell us."

 _Handle? You might be handling something different once you find out._

 _ **My bare body slides sensuously down the pole. I watch him from the corner of my eye, smirking as his cock hardens. His hands are gripping the arms of the chair impatiently. I wonder how it'll feel to have those very hands touch me, how those fingers will feel inside me.**_

 _ **"Bella," he whispers huskily.**_

 _ **I smile, leaving the pole and crawling onto his lap. I tangle my fingers into his hair and press my lips to his. He moans, his arms holding me close to him. He moans again when I grind my hips on his lap.**_

 _ **This. This is the moment I've waited for.**_

 _ **If only my fantasies could cross the border into reality.**_

"I have dirty dreams about Edward," I blurt out.

Emmett grins. "You gotta give us more than that, little B. What kind of dirty dreams do you have about Edward?"

I blush. "Well, one of my dreams involves us and a pole…"

"A pole?" Alice exclaims. "I knew you've been having dreams of being with Edward, but girl, I didn't know you had that in you!"

"What? Haven't you ever had a pole-dancing dream too?"

"Duh, but to hear that from you? That's a first."

I bury my face in my hands as Alice and Rose squeal in delight. I'm sure my face must be brighter than strawberries by now.

"It's always the shy ones," I hear Jasper comment in amusement.

"You must be reading some pretty heavy stuff behind our backs," Rose teases.

I slowly draw my hands away from my face. I peer up at Edward, anticipating his reaction.

"So…?" I ask him hesitantly.

His emerald orbs glint with an emotion that can't be anything else other than adoration. "You and I are gonna have a long talk once this date is over."

"Long, huh?"

He grins back at me. "Don't test me, Bella. I might just ravage you right here, right now."

Emmett wolf-whistles. "Will you?"

"Get a peep show from your own girlfriend," Edward retorts.

Emmett waggles his eyebrows at Rose. "Oh, we will."

I laugh. _That went better than I thought._

* * *

~:~

* * *

The rest of the triple date went along smoothly. We finish the rest of the food and drinks while playing a few rounds of Dirty Minds, courtesy of Emmett. We intended to stop after one round so we had time to watch a movie, but we had so much fun after the first round that we unanimously chose to forgo the movie and play the board game for the rest of the evening.

All the innuendos that came up during our playthrough of Dirty Minds kept my mind attached to my pole-dancing dream. That dream was one of the first dreams I had of Edward, before we started becoming casual acquaintances. Once we began dating, the dreams became more vivid to the point where I dug out my stash from my allowance jar and bought myself a vibrator from a Suzy's outside of town. Faux EC, the bizarre name I gave my vibrator, is what I turn to whenever said dreams get me hot and bothered.

It's nearly 11 PM by the time the date ends. Mr. and Mrs. Cullen had arrived home in the midst of our board game shenanigans and retired to their bedroom to give us our privacy. At the door, the girls made me swore to tell them more about my dreams. I told them I would, because knowing my friends, they'll be grilling me for more once I'm away from Edward.

"I sort of regret skipping out on watching a movie, but playing Dirty Minds with you and your friends was unforgettable," Edward says as we clear the coffee table in the living room of pizza boxes, soda cans, and paper plates.

I toss a soda can into the trash bag that Edward is holding. "If I had a pick between movie and a board game, a movie could've been better."

"Why's that?"

"Because." I lean my mouth close to his ear. "I could've given you a sneak peak of what was in my dream."

He drops the trash bag on the floor. "And may I ask what it is from your dream you wished to do?"

"Something… simple." I kiss his neck. "Something I can't wait to happen soon."

He growls, lifting me in his arms and laying me down on his couch. He hovers above me, his irises twinkling with lust. He growls as he kisses my lips roughly, my legs wrapped around his waist and my fingers caressing the back of his shoulder blades. As the kiss deepens, I let out a needy moan, a sound that I don't think I've ever made aloud until now. _Take that, porn stars._

"Were you trying to kill me back there?" He presses his forehead against mine. "You're making it harder for me to control myself."

"Really? Because you have no idea how much I want you to fuck me."

He smiles at me playfully. "As tempting as that sounds, I don't think now's a right time."

He's not wrong. This relationship is still new and if we're going to make this last, we have to take this one steady step at a time. Even though I'm the girl he loves, a part of me is still trying to prove to him that I'm worthy of his affection, that I'm not using him for popularity (who needs the limelight 24/7?), that I can be better than Tanya, even if she is more physically attractive than me.

"I'm up for a waiting game," I tell him. "And… ummm… about Tanya and Stefan…"

He sighs. "Bels, don't worry about it. I never had feelings for Tanya, so if she wants to be with Stefan, so be it."

"Are you sure?" He had a fake relationship with her for a while. Didn't he have one-millionth of romantic feelings toward her?

"I'm sure." He buries his head at the crook of my left shoulder. "My heart belongs to you. No one else in the world matters but you."

God, he should win an Oscar award for every piece of dialogue he says about how much he loves me. "Ditto."

He chuckles. "That's all you can say?"

"Dude, how am I supposed to compete with that?"

"True."

He shifts his position so he's sitting on the other side of the couch. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"You know how spring break is coming up?"

I nod, sitting up and mirroring his position.

"My aunt Elizabeth wants my parents and I to visit her over the break. My dad agreed and we're leaving next Saturday. I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind tagging along. Em and Jas are coming too and they're planning to ask Alice and Rose too."

"Where does your aunt live?"

"Hawaii," he replies with a huge smile.

My mouth hangs open. _Hawaii? HAWAII?_ I never expected Edward to have an interest in me, and now we've reached a point where he wants me to go somewhere off-state with him. My dad accepts our relationship, so if I did ask him about traveling away from Forks with my boyfriend plus his family and our friends, he'll probably be okay with it. If it was just Edward and I, however, that might be an entirely different story.

"Close your mouth. You'll get flies," he jokes.

I giggle. "Sorry."

"So you want to come?"

"I'll have to ask my dad for permission."

"And if he says yes?"

I smile. I'd have to be stupid to say no to an offer to travel somewhere that's on most people's dream destinations. "Then I'm crossing off 'traveling to an island literally labeled paradise' off my bucket list."

He chuckles, pulling me into a tight hug. "You're the best, Bels."

I beam. If things go my way, then this spring break will be the best spring break ever.

* * *

 **Whew! Little 13-year-old me had a hard time writing that dreamy scene, but now it's coming (no pun intended) to me naturally. I thank all the lemons I've read over the years.**

 **Sorry it's a bit short! I swear the chapters will get longer in future chapters (I'm capable of writing a 4k chapter).**

 **If you've never played the board game Dirty Minds, I highly recommend you do! It's a real test for those who have dirty minds. I watched Smosh's attempt at the game on their 2nd channel a while back and I kept screaming at Ian when he couldn't figure out that kitchen item.**

 **Yes, I have gone to Suzy's. ONCE. It was just for fun (my best friend was the one that told me about it), and for a porn store, I was pretty surprised by how clean and organized it was. My other friend who was with my best friend and I didn't know we were taking a trip to Suzy's, so her shocked/wtf face was priceless to see when we were at the store's entrance.**


	5. Paradise Syndrome, Part 1

"So baby pull me closer on the backseat of your rover, that I know you can't afford it like the tattoo on your shoulder…" Alice is singing along to Closer by The Chainsmokers and Halsey, her hot pink earphones attached to her iPhone. Edward, his parents, our friends, and I are in a plane on the way to Oahu. I blessed my lucky stars when my dad gave me permission to spend spring break with the Cullens and my friends. I had the littlest of doubts that he could've said no since he can be overprotective of me sometimes, so I thanked him repetitively and promised to buy him a souvenir (probably a Hawaiian shirt) when I got back from the trip.

Ever since we got on board, Alice has been on full-on sing-your-heart-out mode. We've gotten glares from passengers for the last hour, resulting in multiple apologies from Rose and I on behalf of our best friend. It's something that Alice does every time we're going on some sort of trip, and this vacation will be no different.

From the seats behind Edward and I, Emmett groans loudly. "Alice, that's the third Halsey song I've listened to for the last hour! Can't you at least pick a Drake song or something?"

As if she didn't hear a word Emmett said, Alice continues to sing as if the world is ending tomorrow and her life depended on singing every single song she has on her phone.

I shift on my chair so I can peek my head over the seat to look over at Emmett. "Leave her be, Em. Never interrupt Aly's jamming time."

"Why? What's she gonna do? Explode into a million ashes and disappear into the ocean?"

"Nope." I let out a soft snicker. "But I wish she would sometimes."

"I heard that!" Alice tells me.

"Busted," Jasper coughs from next to her.

"Oh, she heard that, but she didn't hear me?" Emmett says.

Alice pops off of her earbuds. "I have 20/20 hearing. Besides, Halsey is bomb, so if I wanna sing every song on her album, I will."

"Now that I have to second," I agree. Despite my polar music taste with Alice, Halsey is one of those artists that we both love, along with Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars. Alice's bubbly personality makes her more attuned for pop, hip hop, and R&B, while my fondness for books has me loving rock (heavy metal is a bit of a stretch after the one Slipknot concert I went to with Rose). As for Rose, she'll listen to anything, though she has a soft spot for country.

"Who's side are you on?" Emmett complains.

"No one," I answer. "I'm just making a point."

"Really? So if you like Halsey, does that mean you like Justin Bieber too?"

I fight to hold back my grimace. Not that I don't hate Bieber nowadays, but if we're talking about throwback Bieber circa 2010, that's a different story.

"And I was like baby, baby, baby, oh…" _Em, don't you fucking dare!_

I plop down on my seat, plugging my fingers into my ears. That very song is the reason why I have love-hate reactions to the Biebs.

Edward chuckles, draping his arm across my shoulders. "I have ways to get that song off your head."

I slowly inch my fingers away from my ears, a mischevious smile emerging on my face. Emmett is still singing the damn song, but my annoyance is fading slightly after the comment Edward brought up. "What do you possibly have in mind, Mr. Cullen?"

"Well, first I'll do this." He places a chaste kiss on my cheek. "Then this." His lips trail down to my neck. "And finally this." He presses his lips to mine firmly, eliciting a soft moan from me and for my arms to wrap around his neck in response. As we're locked in our heated kiss, we hear another groan coming from Emmett.

"Alright, alright! I'll stop singing. Just please stop burning my eyes with your PDA."

"Don't pretend you didn't like it," Rose says playfully.

"And what if I did?"

"I wouldn't be mad."

"Perv," Jasper coughs.

I chuckle, ending the kiss but keeping my arms around Edward's neck. "Funny, because I'm supposed to be saying that to you guys." I fake cough. "Aly and Jas, too much public affection. Rose and Em, too much restraint for public fucking."

"But you two might be the worst!" Emmett protests. "You're practically a combination of both couples with your lovey dovey, eye-fucking shit."

"Then that's good. We put up with you guys sucking face with your girlfriends, so we're even now," Edward retaliates.

"So that means you deserve what we silently suffered through," I add, placing a lingering kiss on Edward's mouth.

"Get a room!" our four friends say in unison.

 _We're on vacation. That room's definitely gonna be a necessity._

* * *

~:~

* * *

The rest of the flight rolls along with Alice singing more songs from her phone, the boys playing a multiplayer gaming app on their phones, and Rose and I watching music videos of our favorite bands and artists on my phone. Thankfully, Emmett hasn't resumed to singing Baby, which is a relief since I might have strangled him if he attempted to do it again.

When the plane finally lands and the flight attendant gives the passengers the green light to exit the plane, the first thing that Emmett does is jump up from his seat and squeal like a little girl.

"Hot hula girls, here I come!"

Rose nudges him hardly on his side. "Behave, mister. If I see you hitting on one surfer chick here, you aren't getting any of my paradise."

Emmett raises an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

"Try me."

 _Looks like the beast is gonna need some taming._

We gather our belongings, leave the plane, and walk to the airport. A couple of women welcome us at the entrance and place leis around our necks. One of the women, a tall woman with flawless tan skin named Ailana, tries to hit on Jasper, resulting in Alice possessively holding his hand during the entire exchange. I could tell that Ailana has her eyes on Emmett and Edward too, so Rose and I follow Alice's actions and used our don't-you-fucking-dare glares to make her back off. I can handle shameless flirting from our classmates back home, but I'm going to need more than a chill pill if the shameless flirting comes from a girl in a foreign country. Foreign countries equals girls that's 100 times more pretty than me, and any one of them is capable of stealing Edward away from me.

Edward's aunt Elizabeth is waiting at one of the benches one we grab our luggage. Her facial features closely resemble Esme, though her hair has a darker shade of brown than Esme, as well as gray eyes instead of Esme's brown eyes.

It must have been a long while since she saw the Cullens, because she gives Esme, Carlisle, and Edward each a bone-crushing hug to greet them. After she finishes with her hugs, she turns to us and gives us a warm smile.

"You all look like such a lovely bunch," she says. "How was the flight?"

"Tiring, like any airplane ride," Jasper answers.

"I'm sure it was." She glances between Alice, Rose, and I. "So Eddie, which one of these gorgeous girls is your girlfriend?"

I stifle a giggle at Edward's brief scowl at his nickname. _Eddie, huh?_

Edward winds his arm around my waist. "Aunt Liz, meet my beautiful girlfriend, Bella."

Elizabeth centers her attention at me, the corners of her mouth curving more upward. I'm surprised when she steps forward and pulls me into a hug. I stand there in a few seconds of shock before I return her hug.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Bella! Your name definitely matches how you look."

"Thank you, Elizabeth. And it's nice to meet you too."

"Oh, no need for formalities. Call me Liz."

"Okay… Liz." I've only know Edward's aunt for less than five minutes and I already like her. Her natural cheerfulness reminds me of Alice, which is something that I both like and fear. I do have my limits with Alice and her rainbows and sunshine.

Liz releases me from her hug. "I can't wait to get to know you, Bella." She looks back at Edward. "Now Introduce me to your friends, Eddie!"

As Edward introduces our friends to Liz, Esme lays a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about Liz," she assures me. "Think of her as a grown-up version of Alice."

I laugh. "That's exactly what I was thinking." Alright, maybe two Alice's might not be so bad.

Once introductions are complete, Liz tells us to follow her. Rolling my luggage as we stroll along the vast area of the airport, I tap on Edward's shoulder.

He glances down at me. "What is it, Bels?"

"So… quick question. There's nine of us here. Unless your aunt has a big enough car to fit us all, how are we getting to our hotels?" I don't want to be squished into a cramped vehicle and having to block my nostrils in case someone farts.

He grins. "You'll see. And who said we're going to a hotel?"

I gaze at him in curiosity. If we're not going to a hotel, then where are we going?

Outside, we walk through the parking lot. My mouth hangs open when Liz stops us in front of a bus.

This bus isn't the kind of school buses I see around Forks. Instead of the yellow color that standard school buses have, this bus has a mixture of yellow and white colors. Along with the colors, there are two doors instead of one, with one door located toward my far right and another door located toward my far left. The words "TheBus" is engraved in large black and white bold letters.

"This is our ride," Liz says. "Ain't it a beauty?"

I can only nod in astonishment.

"You'll see a lot of these buses around the island during your stay. I work as a bus driver, and I got permission from my boss to borrow one of these babies so I can tour you around Oahu. For the entirety of your time here, this bus will read 'Not in Service' so you all will be the only passengers on board when I'm driving you around."

"Liz drives the buses that go around Kalihi," Edward whispers to me. "And we're not going to a hotel because Liz is letting us stay at her house."

"How big is her house?" I question in a hushed tone.

"Big enough for all of us."

"Wait out here," Liz says. She goes to the door on my far right, taking out a set of keys from the pocket of her khakis. She clicks on a button, resulting in the far right door to open wide.

"C'mon in everyone! The sooner we get going, the sooner you can settle in and go shopping."

"Hooray!" Alice and Rose cheer.

"I'm dead," I mumble. Shopping was on Alice and Rose's priorities for things to do while we're here. I'm not the biggest fan of shopping, so I'm going to have sore feet when they drag me to coming with them to how ever many malls there are on Hawaii.

"Don't be a party pooper," Alice tells me, noticing my disdained expression as we climb the few steps into the bus with our heavy luggage.

"Aly, you know I'm not the biggest fan of shopping."

"No complaining," Rose chimes. "You're in paradise and there's a ton of souvenirs you can buy here."

"But-"

"No buts. We're not hogging all your time. You'll have your time with Cullen too."

I smile. That's something I'm looking forward to. "You're right. But if I see one blister on my feet because of you and Aly, count me out on all shopping trips for the rest of your vacation."

Rose chuckles. "Deal."

We manage to get all of our luggage in and settled in our seats about ten minutes later. For a bus, the seats are actually pretty comfy. Alice, Rose, Jasper, and Emmett choose seats near the front of the bus that face each other, where Alice and Jasper sit on the left-hand seats and Rose and Emmett sit on the right-hand seats. Carlisle and Esme sit together at the back of the bus with everyone's luggage. As for Edward and I, we're sitting on one of the two-seaters next to the back door of the bus.

On the driver's seat, Liz turns around to look at us. "You all good back there?"

We voice our agreements.

"The ride will take about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic. So sit back, relax, and talk story. If you have any snacks, you can eat them. You're not supposed to eat in TheBus, but since you're with me, I'll make an exception. Just make sure you don't make a mess."

"Emmett," I hear Jasper cough.

Emmett crosses his arms across his chest. "I'm not a pig."

Jasper snickers. "What? It's true."

"Not."

"Then what's this?" Rose reaches into one of the front pockets of Emmett's jeans, revealing a Twix bar.

"Something in case I got hungry. Give me that."

"Don't give ants a reason to come crawling!" I call out.

"I won't, mom" Emmett says, taking his chocolate bar.

I shake my head in amusement. This is going to be one hell of a vacation.

* * *

 **The original version had Alice singing a Cody Simpson song, but I changed it since I'm older now and I have to reflect the music of today. I absolutely adore Halsey's music, and who else thinks the music video for New Americana looked like a dystopian movie condensed into a 4 minute video?**

 **If you're curious about what this particular Hawaii bus looks like, search TheBus on Google (if you've visited Oahu, you might have seen those buses around and know what I'm talking about). There are a lot of different looks of these buses, though the one I described in the story is the common ones you'll see. These buses are my main mode of transportation. If you're a tourist that coming to Hawaii and you want to ride these buses, I wish you luck. These buses have certain routes and if you don't know which bus to take and where to get off, you'll easily get lost.**

 **This is where I stopped with updates in the original version. From this point on, the content will be brand new, which is why updates after today might not be every Thursday. If the next chapter doesn't come out next Thursday, then expect it to come somewhere the following week.**


	6. Paradise Syndrome, Part 2

Liz's house is big.

By big, I mean gigantic.

If there's one thing that Edward didn't tell me that he should have done so before the vacation began, it's that his aunt and uncle are loaded. His uncle, Edmund (I can see where Esme and Carlisle got Edward's name from), is a surgeon at Straub Clinic and Hospital. Liz, in addition to her career as a bus driver, is the co-owner of a popular tourist shop in Waikiki. She splits her responsibilities as a bus driver on weekdays and a store's co-owner on weekends.

"Jesus Christ Edward, does money never run low in your family?" I tell him as we're settling in to his room on the second floor of the Masen residence. My shoes are on the floor and I'm lying eagle-spread on the bed as Edward hangs some of his clothes in the closet. While we get to share the room that Edward lives in whenever he and his family come to Hawaii to visit his aunt and uncle, our friends are all staying in the guest bedroom (the room is large enough to accommodate two twin-sized beds). I snicker to myself when I think about how their methods of having their "private" moments outside of the bedroom (I might have to avoid the kitchen in the middle of the night).

He chuckles. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Whatever you say, rich bitch."

"I'll also take that as a compliment."

He moves away from the closet and sits down on the bed. He gives me one of his crooked smiles.

"What?" I say.

"Nothing." He leans down and kisses my nose. "You know, if I could have all the money in the world, I'd make sure you'd live life like a queen."

"Wow, Edward. For that, I think rich bitch should be your nickname."

"Rich bitch is better than Eddie any day," he muses.

I grin, curling my arms around his neck. "In that case, this rich bitch belongs to no one but me."

 _Really Swan? How much more cornier and sluttier can you sound?_ This is my vacation side talking. Once we get back home, I'll be mortified by the memory of calling my boyfriend a name that sounds just as bad as fuck boy.

"I like the sound of that," he purrs. On second thought, maybe I should let Vacay Swan out of her shell more often.

Our lips meet for a brief second before we hear someone clear their throat.

"Not to intrude on your sexy time, but we got the hot tub working downstairs if you're interested."

 _Hot tub? I'm in!_ After all, why splurge for a spa treatment when there's a functional hot tub in the backyard? I internally thank Rose for convincing me to pack my two-piece swimwear over my usual one-piece bathing suit (I'm not a big fan of showing too much skin, but it's for Edward, I'll wear the skimpiest bikini I can find).

Edward scoots away from me, giving me a view of Emmett standing at the door with a smirk on his face.

"If we were about to have our 'sexy time,' would you have stayed to watch?" I tease.

Emmett winks. "If it means having free porn, sure."

Edward glares at Emmett mockingly, draping his arm possessively on my shoulders. "If you need free porn, just go to a nudist beach."

"Think there are any in Hawaii?"

"I'll tell Rose you said that," I say.

"On second thought, Rose is my nudist beach." Emmett backs away from the doorway. "Carry on."

As soon as Emmett leaves, Edward and I burst into guffaws.

"How much do you bet Em's gonna google the nearest nudist beach in the next 24 hours?" I ask.

"Why bet? He's probably doing it right now," Edward answers.

I giggle, moving into an upright position. "Anyway, I'm up for using the hot tub. That was a long plane ride and I need to relax my muscles."

"Care for some company?"

"Always… rich bitch."

"You're gonna be calling me that the entire week, aren't you?"

"You betcha."

* * *

~:~

* * *

Our Hawaiian vacation is everything Edward, my friends, and I could ask for. Large shopping malls scattered throughout the island (I restrained from being a rampaging bull whenever I came across a Hot Topic store). Picturesque beaches where there's incredible shading if you find a good spot (the waters were a perfect place for swimming races between me and the boys). Inexpensive restaurants with delicious food that has me wishing our vacation could last for more than five days (I wish there were more Japanese restaurants in Forks to appease my love for sushi). I even found a comical Hawaiian shirt depicting a surfing Santa Claus I bought for my dad that I know he'll love.

But my most memorable moment is one spent between Edward and I. In the midst of us and our friends trying to sample everything around Oahu, we managed to allot an afternoon on our third day of vacation for our first date. While our friends take the time to explore the entirety of Ala Moana Shopping Center (Liz wanted to give us a complete tour around the island for the first couple of days so we can have the rest of the vacation to do whatever we want), Edward leads me to the fourth floor of the mall so we can have lunch.

"So our first lunch date," I declare once the escalator takes us to the top of the fourth floor.

"Our first lunch date," he repeats. "Our first actual date."

"Yup." I anticipated this date since our triple date with our friends. We could've gone to a middle-class restaurant or asked Esme to close down Midnight Sun for a night for our first one-on-one date, but after Edward brought up the vacation, I decided to wait until we're in Hawaii for that to happen. Not everyone who lives in Forks has the bragging rights to say that they had their first date in paradise.

"What are you in the mood for eating?" he questions. He hands me the map that we picked up when we arrived at the mall. I unfold it, scanning over the list of restaurants on the fourth floor.

"California Pizza Kitchen?" I suggest. It's one of my favorite places to go whenever Rose, Alice, and I are in Seattle. I have a soft spot for their pasta.

"Are you sure?"

"Yup. You know how much I love their pasta."

"Strange. I thought everyone goes to CPK for the pizza," he muses.

"Not me. I'm the weirdo that goes for the second most Italian food."

He's chuckling at my joke as we step inside the CPK restaurant. A hostess greets us, where Edward asks for a table for two. The hostess leads us through the restaurant (which pretty much looks like other CPK restaurants in Seattle), giving us a window-side table. I'm marveling at the view as Edward and I take our seats. From where we're sitting, we have a great view of the sea and tall buildings beyond the mall's parking lot.

"Why does everything in Hawaii have to be beautiful?" I comment once the hostess leaves us to look through the menu. Forks' sceneries are a stark contrast to Honolulu sceneries. _I bet even rain on parking lots here will look even better than Forks' dank parking lots._

"It's just how it is," Edward replies. "But your beauty is far more interesting to look at."

"Really."

"Bels, if I could take a tour of you, I'd spend my life savings to have that chance."

A coy smile rises on my mouth. "Why spend your life savings when you could have it for free?"

He smirks, putting his menu down. "Are you really saying that where there's people within earshot?"

"Why not? I wouldn't mind taking a tour _inside_ of you." _Oh god, I'm being worse than Emmett._ I can't imagine how our friends would react if they witnessed our exchange.

A waiter arrives to take our orders a few minutes later. Edward orders CPK's signature steak meal, while I order my usual garlic parmesan pasta with shrimp and chicken. As we're awaiting our meal, a group of five Asian girls are seated at the large table to my right. I instantly get the Tanya, Kate, and Irina vibe from them. Each girl is wearing clothes I'd see in a Forever 21 and makeup that makes them look like they are dressed for a Miss Congeniality pageant.

Except for one.

This girl stands out to me, with her red and black flannel, band t-shirt, maroon jeans, blue Converse shoes, and thick framed glasses. Her jet black hair falls in waves just over her shoulder, and her brown eyes shows evident boredom.

She reminds me of… well me.

"You see them too?" Edward murmurs. I flicker my gaze to him and notice him staring at the girls too.

"Don't look so obvious," I tell him in a hushed tone.

"I'm not."

The girls are close enough for us to listen to their conversation. As expected, they talk about their shopping trip to the girly stores around Ala Moana and their boyfriends. Asian Me, which I dubbed the other girl, stays silent, just nodding along and looking as if she'll fall asleep any minute.

Thankfully, our food arrives a couple minutes later, our appetites being an easy distraction from the female clique. I hold back hentai-like noises as I indulge in my pasta. What can I say? Shopping makes me hungry.

"You know, if that's how you sound like with food, I wonder how you'll sound when you have that mouth of yours somewhere else," Edward says as he slices his steak with his knife and fork.

I quickly chew and swallow through the pasta to avoid a coughing fit. "Dude! Were you trying to make me choke?"

"Did it work?"

"Did you plan to kill me?"

"Are you seriously making us play 20 questions while we're eating?"

"What if I am?"

He chuckles. "Touché."

"Idiot," I hear one of the girls from that table sneer. "That guy was clearly trying to flirt with her."

"I know, right?" another girl agrees. "Do you think they're boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Duh. He has such poor taste. I feel sorry for him. Maybe he's doing this for a dare."

"Or as a favor," a third girl suggests. "I bet she had to suck his dick for him to agree to go out with her."

"You know what they say: it's always the quiet ones," the second girl says.

A chill runs through my spine. No matter how many times I hear negative reactions about my relationship with Edward, it still stings. Even the snide comments I overhear from Tanya and her posse in the school halls practically mean nothing to me by this point. But to hear it from complete strangers who are probably aware I can hear them hurts like a gunshot wound to my gut: I'll heal from the scars, but until then, I'll be feeling the pain in the meantime.

"Ignore them," Edward whispers to me. "I bet they're the ones that would gladly suck a dick to be with guys like me."

I nod, though the boulder that implanted in my stomach when the first girl spoke doesn't go away. _Don't let it get to you, Swan. You're never ever gonna see them again after today._

"Don't be so mean," Asian Me speaks up. "You don't know their story."

"True…" the fourth girl says. "But you know haoles. They do more blowjobs than we get the chance to leave the island."

"Oh, and it's not like we don't have prostitutes here," Asian Me rebuttals.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Asian Me shrugs. "I'm just saying. Don't judge a book by its cover, ya know."

I smile internally. If they weren't in a public setting, I think Asian Me wouldn't hesitate to tell those girls off. For all I know, she could be holding back from snapping their necks and feeding their heads to Bigfoot.

Edward and I finish the rest of our meal with playful banters, doing our best to pay no attention to the rude girls at the nearby table. Once in a while, I sneak a glance at Asian Me, who continues to remain nonchalant once she and the rest of her table receive their males. She catches my glances a couple of times, to which she smiles back at me with an apologetic look.

I wish I could give her a bear hug. She didn't even know me, yet she still stood up for my honor.

After eating our main course, Edward asks if I want to order dessert.

"Hell yeah." CPK's caramel pudding is to die for.

"What a fatty," third girl mumbles.

"Are you gonna get dessert too?" I question Edward.

He grins. "If you were on the menu, I'd order second helpings."

 _I'm one innuendo away from doing more than average PDA in here._ "Then you can have that dessert at a later date."

"When will 'later' be?"

I wink. "The date's to be determined."

He grins. He reaches across the table to grab my hand. "Then this rich bitch is gonna have to really work to earn his treat."

I blush. Fuck those girls' insults. As long as I still get to walk out of here with Edward, then they can put their rude statements in the trash like their attitudes belong.

* * *

~:~

* * *

Alice is fuming when I tell her and Rose about the CPK girls. Thankfully, the rest of that date went by without me poking out their eyeballs. The dessert had came (Edward ordered the caramel pudding too), we ate with more jokes shared between us, and left CPK with Edward giving me a congratulatory kiss outside the restaurant for keeping calm while those girls blatantly insulted me.

Alice, Rose, and I are sitting on green plastic chairs in Liz and Edmund's backyard, the moon casting an incandescent glow in the dark sky. The boys are playing a Silent Hill with the x-box that Emmett somehow managed to fit into his suitcase. If I had it my way, I'd be playing along with the guys and feel jolted during the jumpscares, though girl time is what I need at this moment. Video games can wait.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Alice screeches. "Don't listen to them, B! They're just salty 'cause you have the second best boyfriend in the world."

"Who's the first?" Rose inquires.

"Jas, of course."

"Says you. Em is my number one."

"You're calling an oversized 8-year-old a number one?"

"Hey, at least he's _my_ number one."

I sigh, leaning back on my chair. "It's nothing. They were just Tanya, Kate, and Irina in Asian form."

Rose shakes her head, giving me a scrutinizing stare. "Liar. Those girls got under your skin. And I don't blame you. If they said I was a slut to be with Emmett, I would've thrown them into the pits of hell."

Alice scoffs. "Pits of hell? They're practically Satan's followers, so they'd belong in hell."

I laugh. Leave it to my best friends to make me feel better. "Okay… so I was bothered by their insults. But we're heading home in a couple of days. I'm not letting some random chicks ruin our vacation."

Alice fistpumps. "You tell 'em, Bels! And trust me, if we're ever around if you come across those girls again, we got your back."

I smile. It's a possibility. And if Asian Me is with said girls, I'll properly thank her for the heroism that I didn't deserve. "I'll hold you to that."

* * *

~:~

* * *

Later that night, when Edward and I are snuggling together on his bed in our pajamas (though me wearing nothing but an oversized Winnie the Pooh t-shirt and boyshorts and him wearing nothing but a t-shirt and boxers is merely adding on to our temptations), he asks me if I'm still annoyed by what happened during our date.

"Not anymore," I tell him. It's true. I'm not letting those girls' downplay on me damper my high spirits. Edward likes me. I didn't do any favors for him to fall for me. Amidst the dozens of girls that vied for his affection, I was the only girl he had his eyes on.

I won his heart fair and square. Those girls will never understand how truly lucky I am to have a popular but kind boyfriend.

"Good." He kisses my forehead. "It's you and I forever, baby."

"Do you really believe that? That we'll be forever?"

"I wouldn't be saying that if I didn't see it."

I bury my head in his chest. We're 16. Our relationship is still relatively new. Anything can happen to us. I don't want to lose him, but reality is shit for some people. It won't be today or tomorrow, but there could be a day where Belward (our official ship name according to Forks High's students) is broken.

But I shouldn't worry about it. For now, in our mini bubble of bliss, I'll hold on to the hope that he'll still be in my future.

* * *

~:~

* * *

"I can't believe it's over! Is there anyone for me to stay here for life?" Emmett whines. We're all in Liz's bus, including Edmund, on our way to the airport, sitting on the same seats we had our butts on when it was our first day on the island. It's finally time for us to head back to Forks and to say that we wish our vacation could be extended is an understatement. Compared to dreary old Forks, I could see myself living in paradise. Sure, the traffic is bad and there's a lot of homeless people around, according to Liz and Edmund, but I wouldn't mind dealing with that if it meant escaping daily rainy weather and hoes from left to right.

"Not if you want to live as a lonely bachelor for the rest of your life," Rose retorts.

"It's expensive to live here," Edmund calls out. He's sitting at the back of the bus with Esme and Carlisle. "If I didn't meet Liz, I would have stayed in the mainland after I finished medical school."

"Would you want to live here?" I ask Edward softly.

Edward shrugs. "Depends. Would you come with me?"

"Are you making plans for our future without consulting me?" I tease. In the back of my mind, the thought of Edward idealizing life after high school touches me. The culture of Hawaii is highly different than from Forks, but if given a few months, I could adjust.

"I'm consulting you now, aren't I?" he says.

"Hey! If you're talking about marriage back there, at least wait till you're 18 to get hitched!" Emmett calls out.

"How do you know they were talking about marriage?" Jasper inquires.

"I'm the master of lip-reading. And they have the same eyes as Rosie and I when we talk about our future."

"It's not bad to talk about your life down the road," Liz says. "It's good to think about the choices you can make that can lead you down the right path."

"Does the right path include getting food before we get to the airport?" Emmett brings up.

"We just ate at iHop!" Alice exclaims.

"What? Airline food is horrible!"

"They're not that bad," I say, joining in on the conversation.

"Tell that to someone who didn't barf from eating in the plane."

We're debating about the pros and cons of airline food for the remainder of the ride. By the time we get to the airport, we have a plastic bag of bento boxes from a Seven-11 we made a quick stop to along the way. I blame Liz for mentioning Ryan Higa's video about his mock Honest Airline Commercial. I remember watching that video minutes after its upload and mentally agreeing to everything the Asian YouTuber said.

Tears brim in Liz's eyes as she assists us with carrying our luggage into the airport. Once we're inside, she's giving all of us tight farewell hugs. When she hugs me, tears are spilling down her cheeks.

"Oh Bella! Promise me you'll come to visit again!"

"I'll try." Can I die from a hug? Liz's vicegrip on me has me thinking I could.

"Don't kill the girl," Edmund chuckles. His hug is less suffocating. "I need her back in one piece when I see her again as the future Mrs. Cullen."

"That's if they don't Vegas beforehand!" Liz says.

"Uncle Ed," Edward complains. "You know I'm never gonna go to Vegas for that reason."

"You never know," Liz says in a singsong tone. "Your uncle and I considered it when we were young and in love."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure these two don't get a ring on their fingers behind our backs," Esme assures Liz.

"You heard it right here, folks," Rose chimes in. "Don't tie the knot yet."

"Says the two people that'll get to the altar first," Jasper coughs.

Rose directs her attention to Jasper. "What was that?"

"Nothing!"

I laugh. This entire week has been absolutely wonderful. Next week, it's back to late-night study sessions and overenthusiastic students prying Edward and I about how our vacation went (there's no way none of them will ask if we had hot beach sex). On the bright side, summer break is a couple of months away. Maybe Edward and I can return to Oahu then.

"I have to get going, everyone. I have patients to fix," Edmund says.

"Me too. My first shift starts in a couple of hours," Liz adds.

With a final round of goodbyes, we're waving at Liz and Edmund as they exit through the airport's double doors.

"Bella?" Edward says.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go home."

I look up at him and smile. _Home is wherever you are._

"Let's go home," I echo back.

* * *

 **So sorry about the late update! I was busy with studying for the 3rd pharmacology exam I had two Tuesdays ago and on top of that I was working on the short story I had to do for my creative writing class. That story chewed up a lot of my fanfic writing time, hence why this chapter of OPR is longer than usual. *bows repetitively in apology* I'm done with that story now, and my next pharmacology exam isn't until next week, so I worked tirelessly last weekend to catch up on chapters for OPR.**

 **I've only been to CPK once (my best friend and her uncle took me there for my 19th birthday, along with her younger brother and sister), so Edward and Bella's meals were based off the ones that her younger brother and I ordered.**

 **Haole is a term used by people in Hawaii that refers to Caucasian or any white-skinned people. A lot of times, the term is used as an insult.**

 **I sprinkled a couple of Dan and Phil references in this chapter, so brownie points if you can spot them.**

 **In non OPR related news, I've spent the last couple of weeks playing and obsessing over a gaming app called Mystic Messenger. It's free to download in the app store, and I recommend playing it if you have the time. All I can say is that one of the "romanceable" characters, Jumin, in the game is who a lot of people in the fandom (including me) refers to as "daddy" (trust me, the fanfics written about him and the main character are reminiscent to some of the Edward/Bella smut I've read).**

 **It's getting closer to the lemon scene, so I'm ramping up the double innuendos. But before that happens, there'll be some slight drama going on in the next chapter. Nothing too heavy though.**


	7. Is It Forever?

The Monday morning back to school is hell.

The good kind of hell though.

As expected, my and Edward's "fanclub" swarmed us on Monday following spring break. They knew about our vacation to Hawaii due to the numerous photos that our friends posted on their Facebook and Instagram accounts. Edward and I did our best to give them a clean version of the trip that would appeal to their gossipy brains, though when asked if we hooked up, our faces flushed.

"Uh… maybe?" I squeaked in response.

Edward had chuckled, squeezing my waist. "Maybe we did. Maybe we didn't."

Whether or not our answers appeased the girls, I'm 90% sure most of them think we had our own little paradise while we were there, if you know what I mean.

Being back in school is a relief and a pain in the ass. I'm relieved to have a distraction from the social scene, but it's a pain in the ass when my attention to school divides my time between schoolwork, working as a volunteer on weekends at the local hospital, and Edward. Despite football season being over, Edward still has his duties to fulfill as math team president. The annual national decathlon is coming up soon, so he has been spending much of his time after school studying and helping the members study. There's also Forks High's spring fair next month, and part of that spring fair is a friendly football match between the school's football team and the school's faculty staff. Whenever Edward isn't studying, the two of us set aside time to keep his athletic skills up to par.

"Keep your eye on the ball," Edward advised the first time we had our football session. It was a Saturday night on the first week of the second half of the semester. We were in his backyard, taking a break from doing our homework. I was hesitant about agreeing to casually toss a football back and forth with him. I'm supposed to be a klutz. I have what danisnotonfire calls "butterfingers." I can't run without tripping onto thin air, much less catch something thrown at me several feet away.

It took several attempts for me to get used to it, but after a few football sessions, I got the hang of it. Turns out, I didn't need to have the most dexterous fingers. As long as I had decent hand-eye coordination and didn't cringe when the ball was thrown at me, I did fine. By the end of the month, I was at the point of watching football games aired on TV, just so I could understand the fundamentals of a sport that's America's favorite pastime.

"Let's take a break," Edward breathes, bracing his body against a tree. I'm gripping the football in his hand, adrenaline flowing through my bloodstream. It's Friday night on the second week of April, the day before the spring fair. I'm spending the night at the Cullens since my dad's doing something in La Push with the Clearwaters. I'm amazed that he trusts me that much to sleep over at my boyfriend's house. Then again, he's aware that Esme and Carlisle is around, so he's probably confident that his parents have their eagle eyes ready for us.

We're being responsible teens. We still have our morals to live up to, and part of it is keeping our virtues intact.

"Gotcha." I drop the football on the grass, making my way over to Edward. I get why the boys have an affinity for sports. Similar to my passion for books and music, sports makes them feel alive.

"You're a natural at this, Bella," he praises, leaving a brief kiss on my lips. "At this rate, I could teach you to tackle."

"You mean like this?" I push his shoulders so he steps away from the tree, then push him once more so he lands on his back on the grass.

"Yes, like that," he grunts, his expression instantly shifting from exhaustion to playful. Sweat drips from his temple, so by instinct, my ring and middle finger reaches forward to flick it off.

"How would you rate that tackle?" I ask.

"11/10." He leans closer to my ear. "But if you did that and I landed on a bed, I'll consider changing the score."

"Higher or lower, baby?"

"Higher." He brushes his nose along my collarbone. "Way, way higher."

I giggle. "If we go inside right now, I'll make it happen."

He smirks, his warm green orbs darkening with mischief. "Race you inside, beautiful."

I move off of his body and stand. "See you there, Mr. Cullen." Without waiting for a response, I dash away from him and head for the door.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

~:~

* * *

The spring fair is in full swing. Alice, Rose, and I are purchasing snacks at various food and drinks station before we head to the field to watch the much-anticipated football match. The boys are already at the field, doing warmups with the other football players as their preparation for the match. Even the cheerleaders are down there, doing whatever the hell cheerleaders do before a game.

"There's no way the teachers are gonna win against our boys," Alice comments, her arms cradling a large bucket of popcorn.

"They don't stand a chance," Rose agrees. "They've lost every year in a row. This year's not gonna be any different."

"You don't know." I open a small package of Haribo gummy bears and pop one of the sweet, edible, chewy bears in my mouth. "Anything can happen. I heard Coach Clapp's been getting lessons from an alumni."

"Alumni or not, they're gonna lose," Alice says. "But it's the effort that counts, so I'll give 'em that."

We arrive at the field a few minutes later. Maneuvering through the bleachers, we find a place to sit toward the front. It's a good view for us to see the action, yet far enough to avoid being hit by a ball (Jessica Stanley was hit with one during our freshman year and it was one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen).

From the field, Emmett spots us in the midst of his squats. I snort when he waves at us mid-squat.

"Doing good, hon!" Rose yells to Emmett.

"Thanks babe!" Emmett resumes his squatting. A dozen or so squats later, he switches his position so he begins doing push-ups.

"You don't have to show off, Em!" Alice shouts.

Jasper pauses his own squatting, shaking his head. "If I do push-ups, will you be proud of me, baby?"

"Just keep doing your squats, babe! Save your muscles till the game actually happens."

Edward notices our exchange and jogs over to where we are.

"What about me?" he questions when he reaches us.

"You ran all the way over here to ask me that?" I retort.

He shakes his head. "No. I came here for this." He climbs over the fence, up the seats, and pecks my nose. "Nice jersey by the way." He had given me a blue football jersey labeled with the number 13 on the front and back last night. He wanted me to wear it for the fair, thinking that seeing me wear some sort of athletic get-up would bring him luck.

I wink. "Why thank you. A nice gentleman gave it to me yesterday."

He waggles his eyebrows. "Is that so? I should thank him properly later."

Alice gags. "Ugh, this is too much cuteness. I should've brought a blindfold."

Rose chuckles. "I think that would've only given Jas thoughts he shouldn't be having before playing."

I laugh. "We'll turn the dial down." I pat Edward's cheek affectionately. "I'm gonna use the restroom. I'll be back before the game starts."

He kisses my forehead. "Don't take too long."

"I won't." I glance toward my friends. "Don't eat all the food." On a good day, the girls could eat an entire buffet if they were starving.

"We're not Em, dear," Rose says. "We'll save you some popcorn and licorice."

I nod, standing as I do so. Edward runs back to the field, and I walk down back up the bleachers, heading toward the open restrooms at a nearby building. I'm in high spirits, though that mood quickly shatters when I see who's in front of the girls' restroom.

"Well, well." She's dressed in her cheerleading uniform, her pom-pom's on the ground. "It's none other than the Ugly Duckling."

I internally groan. I noticed that she wasn't at the field with Kate, Irina, and the rest of the cheerleading squad. I assumed she was getting a bite to eat before the game, but I should've known that someone like her wouldn't dare to eat prior to a match. According to Rose, it's not in her "demon handbook."

"What do you want, Tanya?" I grumble.

"Gee, you're pretty snappy, Swan."

"I don't have time to deal with your bullshit. Now if you'll excuse me." I move past her and I have one foot on the restroom's tiles when she says something that ruins my good mood even further.

"You don't seriously think Edward's yours forever, right?"

I freeze. "What are you talking about?"

She scoffs. "You're 16. You're too young to know what love is."

I turn my head to glare at her. "Says the one who's trying to bang nearly every guy in Forks. I feel sorry for… Stefan?"

"Stefan has nothing to do with this."

"Say that to me when I don't see your tongues in each other's mouths every single day." _Ease it, Swan. Don't stoop down to her level._

"I feel sorry for you." She twirls with her blonde ponytail. "Look at you, acting as if you'll be the future Mrs. Cullen. But you're still in high school, Swan. You don't know what you want yet."

"That may be true, but at least I have plans for my future, unlike you."

"You're an ugly duckling for a reason," she sneers. "Edward thinks you're beautiful now, but he's gonna change his mind later. He's gonna realize he's too good for you and look for someone else."

"You're wrong. You're saying that because you're jealous he picked me over you."

She shrugs. "Say what you want, Swan. Real life isn't a movie. The geek doesn't always have her happy ending with Prince Charming." She crouches and retrieves her pom-poms. "Edward will realize his mistake, and when he does, you'll wish you weren't interested in him in the first place."

"That won't happen."

"Relationships don't last, kiddo. Open your eyes now while you still can."

 _She's a bitch. Don't let the bitch get to you!_ "How about you take your own advice first? At least I'm not fooling anyone." With one last glare, I scurry into the restroom.

Well fuck.

* * *

~:~

* * *

 _Don't listen to her, Swan. You're a great girlfriend. Edward really likes you. He won't dump you for anyone else._

Anxious breaths escape my lips as I struggle to control my nerves. My knees buckle, and my body sinks onto the rough concrete. I used the restroom as fast as I could, but that couldn't stop the conversation I had with Tanya from haunting my mind.

I'm straining to keep the tears at bay. _He won't leave me. He isn't capable of doing that._

Would he?

I bite the inside of my mouth. I'm confused. Everything that Tanya said is burning my insides. It's affecting me far more than it should. After all, there was truth in her words.

 _ **"You don't seriously think Edward's yours forever, right?"**_

Forever. We briefly talked about that seven-letter word while we were on vacation. Edward called me his "forever," and at the time, I believed in it.

Now, I'm not so sure. What if Tanya's prediction is true? What if we aren't forever? What if we're only destined to be high school sweethearts? I can't imagine anyone else being my perfect match other than Edward. In such a cliché way, I didn't know what true love was until I met Edward. Edward, the boy who's more than Forks' star quarterback. Edward, the boy with a heart of gold who saw past my introverted ways. Edward, the boy who loves me more than anyone else ever did.

He loves me. I know he does. We haven't said "I love you" to each other yet, but I know.

I know.

"Bella?"

I break.

Tears start to spill from my eyes, dropping onto the ground. I bury my head on top of my kneecaps, refusing to look up. I need this. I need to cry. I need to release my pent-up emotions, no matter how ugly I'll look to the person who found me.

"Baby." I feel him lay his hands on my shoulders. "What happened? The game's about to start."

"I-It's nothing. Go back down. Don't miss the match."

"Silly girl… I'm not going back there without you."

"Edward, you're gonna let your team down. Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"You're not fine. Tell me… what's wrong?"

I sniff. It won't be so terrible to tell him, right? It's Edward. He listens to every word that comes out of this awkward mouth and not once was he fazed by them. Besides, this is a subject that would've had to come up someday. That 'someday' just happens to be today.

I tilt my head up and gaze at Edward with glassy eyes. "I… talked to Tanya."

His jaw tenses. "What did she say this time? I can go tell her off-"

"No need," I interrupt. "I did that all on my own."

A corner of his lips lifts. "That's my girl."

I can't help the tiny giggle that escapes my mouth. "I can protect myself, rich bitch. It's us I should do that for."

"Protect us? Why?"

I gulp. "Tanya told me that forever might be nonexistent for us. She thinks you'll see the light of day, break up with me, and leave me for a girl who's ten times hotter than me."

"Wh… no! Do you believe that?"

I shake my head. "No. I… I don't know. I'm so fucking confused. She's not wrong, Edward. What if this, us, what if it's not meant to last? What if we're meant to split in the future? What if you do get tired of me and leave me someone who's more deserving of you? What if we realize all our relationship was is puppy love? What if-"

My rambling is cut off by his lips. His lips mold into mine slowly, full of softness and desire, reassurance and want. Our foreheads touch and he doesn't stop kissing me, even when I'm in desperate need of oxygen and I'm feebly pushing on his chest. He draws the kiss for as long as possible, until I feel as if my lungs are turning blue and I'm seconds away from fainting.

"Never think of yourself as anything less," he whispers. He stands up, holding his hand out to me. I grab onto it and he helps me up too. "I've been the happiest man on Earth for the last several weeks. You've showed me what it's like to fall for a real girl, someone who isn't with me for the popularity. To be honest, it's you I'm scared of leaving. I care so much about you. You're the only one who can make me lose my cool and turn me into a girl." He sighs. "Is it crazy if I tell you that I already love you?"

My heart skips a beat.

 _Told you Swan. Cullen does love you._

He grabs my hands, stroking my knuckles with his thumbs. "I'm not gonna change. If you haven't noticed, there are a bunch of gorgeous girls out there, but you're still the most beautiful, magnificent, most splendid spectacle in my world. I wake up every morning nowadays with a smile, knowing I'd get to see you, knowing that I have a girlfriend who loves me unconditionally." He raises our joined hands so it touches his chest. "You were never just a crush for me, Bella. I've always thought you were unobtainable, and when you gave me a chance to date you on Valentine's Day, I thought I finally found my soulmate."

"You believe in soulmates?"

"Who wouldn't?"

I smile. "So we're good?"

"Always." He kisses my cheek. "Belward will never die. It's written in these pages."

"Are you trying to be poetic?"

"Is it working?"

"Eh, I'll give it a C."

"C's do get degrees," he jokes.

"Oh god," I giggle, shaking my head to hold back my laughter. "I'm so telling Jas and Em you said that."

"Tell them after the game, beautiful." He lets go of my hands, choosing to drape his arm across my shoulders. "We'll talk more about this, okay?"

I nod. This is a discussion that's a bit too heavy before a somewhat important football match. "Tonight."

"Tonight," he affirms.

* * *

~:~

* * *

The FHS football team wins the game. Tanya is glaring daggers at Edward and I when she spots us sharing a celebratory kiss following the game. Rose "accidentally" drops a corndog on Tanya's shoes on our way out the field.

Things are good. Great, actually. Aside from the despairing conversation between Edward and I outside the restroom, the rest of the day progresses with no more real drama. Thinking about Edward's unexpected "I love you" boosts my positivity back up. It's a confession that I would've probably taken months to muster the courage to utter myself, so it was a relief to hear it from Edward's own lips.

We do get to continue our discussion about forever when we head back to his house after the fair's festivities. We snuggle under the blankets on his bed with the lights turned off, discussing a future that's still light years away. It's one of the rare times we talk in-depth of what we want to see our lives turn out after high school, a subject that an average high school couple would wait months into a relationship to discuss instead of a few weeks. But we're Edward and Bella. Our relationship is far from normal.

We talk about life. We talk about what forever means to us. We talk about our dream wedding and places to travel someday. We talk about what our dream house would be like and the names of our future children. We talk about the dreams we want to share to said children and how we'll grow old together. We talk about being surrounded by our families and friends in our deathbeds and being buried right next to each other at a graveyard somewhere. We joke about having our coffins stacked on top of each other to save money.

Most of all, we talk about love. We talk about where our feelings stand. He tells me "I love you" properly. I tell him "I love you" back.

"You do?" he asks. "You're not saying that because you have to?"

"Nope." I curl closer to his side, laying my head on his chest. "Because these last couple months with you… we already loved each other. It only took us now to see that."

We make a promise to stick together.

We make a promise to make our relationship everlasting.

We make a promise to always be one hundred percent genuine with each other.

We make a promise for love to triumph anything.

* * *

 **Yeah… this chapter just got real. And mushy. After all the fluff from the previous chapters, I think it was time to do what I do best and drop in a dose of drama. I love the romance and humor, but reality doesn't take a break. OPR wouldn't be a story unless there was conflict.**

 **Three chapters left! I was supposed to post this on my last day of finals week, but I couldn't finish it in time. And… well, I was going through some relationship troubles during that time and I didn't have the inspiration to finish it till last night. I wasn't in the mood to write a chapter that somewhat paralleled with reality. When I work on fics, I want to be writing at my absolute best, and if I'm not at my absolute best, then I need to take a step back and come back to the story when my mind's in the right place.**

 **Long story short… I was going through a breakup. My boyfriend was one of those punk nerdy emo people with such a soft heart that you wouldn't believe has a cheesy side. Anyway, he broke up with me because of feelings for another girl (no cheating whatsoever) and he wanted to pursue those feelings to see where it would go. For a little while, I kind of hated myself. I wondered what I could've done better with our relationship. He was my first real boyfriend, and even though we didn't last long, he was one of the best things that happened to me in 2016. We're good friends now… I say now because honestly, if you knew the story of what happened between him and the other girl, you might be convinced that we shouldn't have broken up. At least that's what my Tumblr followers think anyway.**

 **It was a bad time for me guys. I cried for days. I watched Silver Linings Playbook and cried even more when I realized how much the movie had similarities to our relationship (he called me his "silver lining"). I had to listen to a lot of upbeat rock songs to cheer me up. I'm a bit better now though. Not happy, but better. But hey, better is the minimum bar of emotions I need to be feelings.**

 **Sorry for sounding so depressing! But I'm back on my fanfic A-game and should have more chapters ready for you soon.**


	8. AN: Where I've Been

Hey guys. So I've been on a hiatus for the last few months and I'm pretty sure many of you are wondering where the hell I've been. Rest assured, I haven't given up on writing. What I have been doing is taking a break from the fanfic writing world to focus on college. It was difficult to resist my writing temptations, but I knew I had to put school first. I didn't have a good balance on my school and fanfic life last semester. As a result, my grades suffered. I failed my microbiology lecture course and got a D in my general pharmacology course. Granted, I got an A in creative writing, but it's science I have to excel at to keep my dreams of pursuing a nursing career alive.

In other words, I focused so much on my fanfic writing that I sort of shut off the real world. If it wasn't for my boyfriend, who I've been dating for the last three and a half months, I wouldn't have remembered my reason for pursuing a medical career in the first place. I would've given up and became a hermit in the next few years or so. I wrote a bit of poetry and read fanfics on my own time, but other than that, my mind was focused in studying for exams and stuff.

My finals are coming up, and once that's over, I'll be back to fanfic writing. I'll need a bit of time to refresh on what I've written so far, but once I get comfortable, I'll be back to a relatively regular updating schedule during my summer break. For OPR, I'll upload longer chapters since there's only 4 more chapters I plan to update. For IPY, I'll try to upload the final several chapters in bundles of 2 until the epilogue. Once I finish those 2 fics, I have a few new plot bunnies (both for one-shots and multi-chaptered) I've been itching to write. I'll get to writing them during the summer while I study for my ATI-TEAS exam (aka this testing I gotta do to apply for my college's nursing program).

Please be patient with me! I apologize for the long absence. Just wanted to drop by and tell you I'm not dead haha.

See you in a few weeks with new chapters!

˜ AA


	9. Promposal

The minute prom season begins, Forks High goes from the calm before a storm to the chaos of a zombie apocalypse. If I thought the day after Valentine's Day was insanity for me, it's nothing compared to the upcoming teenage rite of passage that I call prom.

Dresses. Tuxedos. Limos. Disco balls. Ballrooms. It's all up in the air and to say it's a bit hard to keep up with it is an understatement.

Following the mini Tanya fiasco from the spring fair, I was surprised when Tanya dialed back from her insults since Edward and I began dating. In the halls, the most I got from her was a handful of glares and the occasional middle finger from behind her back. For me, it's a lot less drama I have to encounter on a daily basis, though I have to admit that I do miss a dose of saltiness from the salt queen herself.

Since I was a child, I had mixed opinions about prom. On one hand, I was excited about having one night where I could feel like a princess and be swept off her feet by her Prince Charming. I dreamed about dancing with my idea of a perfect boyfriend (if I had one by then), or at least be approached by a cute boy who's into cute bookworm girls. However, after reading a handful of novels and watching a bunch of chick flicks (courtesy of Aly and Rose), I dreaded the realities of what my prom experience could be like.

Excessive makeup. Getting my dress ruined. Being copped a feel by a creep. I may as well skip prom altogether.

But I'll go. For Edward. Edward is considerate not to prioritize the topic for us, though we've established the fact that we both want to go to prom. All that's missing is him asking, "Will you go to prom with me?" to make things official.

"Gah… promposals are the worst!" Alice groans. Alice, Rose, and I are laying down on Rose's bed at her house on a Saturday night. The girls are browsing through Instagram on their phones. I'm doing the same, only with Facebook instead.

With a week to go until the national decathlon, Edward has been spending late nights at school preparing for the competition. All week, we've only had time to see each other in the morning and during our lunch breaks. He doesn't get home until around 9 PM, and even then he has to fight his exhaustion so he could work on any homework due the next day. I'm amazed he hasn't given up our nightly calling sessions.

"You need sleep more than me," I advise him every night whenever my phone vibrates with a text.

"I'll sleep forever when I'm in the grave," he'd joke tiredly. Or, "I'd rather have you now than in my dreams."

I'm concerned for his health, but I appreciate his effort. At least he calls. His corny lines are a reason why I love him.

"Says the one who's waiting for a promposal from Jasper," Rose rebuttals.

"I don't mean it like that." Alice glances up from her phone. "I don't hate promposals. I just hate how guys approach them."

"Don't forget the ladies," I pipe in. "There's no gender boundaries for asking a significant other to prom."

"Always the wise owl, Swan."

"You're not wrong," Rose agrees. "Not to be harsh, but Forks dudes are lame in the romance department."

"I know!" Alice abandons her phone on the bed. "Tyler went the Bachelor approach to Lauren. Kneeling down with a rose in your hand and saying 'Will you accept this rose and my invitation to be my date to prom?' is so… when did The Bachelor first start airing?"

"2004? 2005?"

"I think so. Anyway, it's sweet when you see it the first few times, but it's done so many times that it's lost all meaning. If he did the same thing and they're doing something dangerous like bungee-jumping, then I'm listening."

Rose shrugs. "Guess that's Lauren's cup of tea if she was quick to say yes. I'm disappointed so many people thought it was cute."

I scrunch my nose. "Cute my ass."

"See? Even Bels understands, and she's the hopeless romantic."

"Hey!" I may read a bunch of romance novels, but I still have common sense when it comes to love.

"Sorry." Rose hugs my shoulders. "Am I forgiven?"

I pat her arms. "I wasn't offended in the first place."

Rose draws her arms back. "I thought… with Edward being MIA for the last few days, you might not be in the best spirits."

"Do I look sad?"

"No, but you might be and you're not telling us."

"I'm fine. The decathlon's important to him and I don't want to stand in his way of getting his team to win."

"Again, wise owl," Alice says. "Since we're talking about promposals, think the guys will do one for us?"

"Obviously. Do you know Em? I bet he'd do it Notebook style and ask me in the rain." Rose replies.

"If it's Em, he might do it in the with no clothes on and the entire block will have a view of his man ass," I tease.

Rose laughs. "I like the way you think."

Alice stares at the ceiling thoughtfully. "As long as Jasper doesn't do anything cliché, I'll say yes to him no matter what."

Rose raises an eyebrow. "Even if he pulls off a Bachelor final rose?"

"Boo, that's not fair."

"Would you still say yes if he did that?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Hey, you brought up this whole discussion on promposals."

"Ugh…" Alice sighs. "Maybe… I don't know. I'm being impatient, okay?"

I gently nudge Alice's shoulders. "Hey… if it's any consolation, I'm okay with Edward just asking me. I don't need a promposal." I don't know what I'd do if I showed up to school one day and Edward made a big spectacle to ask me to prom.

"Yeah… but that's what you want. Damn, I wish I can be as simplistic as you."

"Don't try to have my mindset, Aly. I can't have you disappointed." I rest my head on her shoulder. "Jas will ask you to prom. He'll do it Tumblr style, minus any form of embarrassment."

Alice chuckles. "Thanks, B."

Rose moves so she could mirror my position on Alice's other shoulder. "Let's pray for us to get the promposals we want. Our first prom can never be redone."

* * *

˜:˜

* * *

 _Edward's gonna do a promposal_ is a thought that occupies my head once the weekend is over. I can't help the anticipation of what Edward has in mind. Has the thought of doing a promposal ever crossed his mind? What if he changes his mind about going to prom? A miniscule part of me feels dejected if he does. With all this thinking about prom, I don't want to be left with nothing if he wants to skip out on going.

 _But what if he wants to skip so you two could-_ Okay, not where my mind should be going. Double innuendos in my conversations with Edward isn't necessarily equivalent for us to be ready for that stage yet.

 _Don't lie. You want it._

I do. Badly. When Edward goes out of town over the weekend for the decathlon, I'll be consulting my secret stash of erotica.

 _ **Babe, gonna take a break from studying today! Where do you wanna go after school?**_

I throw my fist in the air in glee. It's Wednesday morning and I've walked out of the bathroom to find that Edward texted me while I showered.

 _ **Your place?**_

His response arrives less than 30 seconds later. **_That works!_**

 _Yes! An entire after high school with my rich bitch._ That sounded cute in my head, but now the line seems like I'm a possessed girlfriend. However, I'm still excited. After multiple rainchecks for decathlon practice, it's nice to have some us time when we're face-to-face than two phones hundreds of meters apart.

The entire school day, I'm antsy for the final bell to get over with. I repetitively check my phone for the time, inwardly counting down to the end of my last class. My friends obviously notice. I tell it's due to my excitement to be alone with Edward, though my explanation is perfect grounds for them to tease me. Jasper and Emmett subtly joke that our "hangout" is for couple activities beyond PG-13. Alice and Rose, as dirty-minded as they can be, surprise me by suggesting that Edward is planning a promposal.

I listen to my girls than the guys. It's still a possibility. Even if there's no promposal, he might still just bring it up so he can formally pop the question. I'll appreciate any method he uses to approach the subject.

"You seem excited," Edward muses as he's driving us to his house. _Boy, if I took my excitement any further, I'd be riding you in the backseat._

"Gee, I wonder why," I reply in a faux sarcastic tone.

"I'm really sorry for being MIA lately."

"You don't have to keep apologizing. It's fine. You can't let down the math team."

"I'm still letting you down. Out of all the people I can't disappoint, you're number one on my list."

"What about the boys?"

"They're second."

"And your parents?"

"You're tied with them."

I smile, squeezing his shoulder appreciatively. "So on the scale of importance, you love me just as much as your parents?"

Eyes still trained on the road, his lips curl upward. "Mmmm-hmmm, though my love between you and my family isn't the same. I don't have sexy thoughts about them."

"What, you've never had a hot cousin?" I joke.

He chuckles. "There's my cousin Maria, but she's married and I never dreamed about fucking her."

"Well, when it happens, you can put those sexy thoughts into action any time you want."

He smirks. "Talk any further and we're doing more than just watching Netflix on my bed."

"I'm down to Netflix and chill."

At a stoplight, he leans to the side and pecks my cheek. "Soon, beautiful."

 _Soon better be soon in my standards._

When we reach Edward's house, I start to notice a different kind of excitement emanating from him. Aside from the lust, it's as if there's something at his house that we wants to show me. Maybe there's a TV series or movie on Netflix he's eager to see me get into. Maybe he bought me an impromptu gift he waited days to give me. Or maybe he really does have something up his sleeve for a promposal.

 _Stop thinking about prom for one day, Swan!_ Today's supposed to be a relaxing afternoon to make up for a bit of lost time. I have to pull it together and stop succumbing to anticipation so I won't be disappointed if he isn't going to mention anything prom-related.

As soon as he opens the door, I see a neon green folded piece of paper on the 'WELCOME' floor mat in the living room. I gesture to Edward, who motions for me to pick it up and see what it is. I do what he says, and when I unfold it, I reign in a gasp at the blue ink-written words.

 _ **BEFORE I ASK THIS QUESTION, SAY YES.**_

I raise an eyebrow. "Say yes to what?"

"You'll see. Just say yes first."

 _If he's making me say yes to marry him…_ "Only if you promise you aren't gonna pull out a ring from your pocket."

"No rings, but I might kneel."

"You sure you aren't gonna ask me to marry you?"

"I'm sure. I'm saving that question in ten or so years."

"And I'm not gonna die because of it?"

"Bella, I wouldn't be foolish to put you in danger."

"Define danger."

"Babe, don't overthink it. I promise on my tombstone that what I'll ask you is entirely harm-proof. And you're free to say no if you're uncomfortable."

The last bit still makes it sound like he's about to ask me to do something risky, but I decide to roll with it. "Yes, hon. Now what is it?"

"Let's go up to my room."

"You can't ask me here?"

"We have to be in my room for that."

We leave our shoes next to the front door. He holds my hand and leads me upstairs. _It's Netflix or the gift. I'll be happy either way._

But it isn't. The moment I step foot in his bedroom, I'm stunned by what he has done. The large open area on the floor is covered with white cloth. Paperback and hardcover novels of various genres are arranged to spell out the question I've been waiting to hear for days.

 ** _WILL YOU GO TO PROM WITH ME?_**

"Jas told me you and the girls talked about promposals and how you didn't want me to go over the top if I did one for you. I was gonna do one for you anyway. I just had a bit of trouble figuring out how." Moving to stand directly in front of me, he takes my hands and kneels on the floor. "I knew my promposal had to represent you: something simple, but meaningful. So I got all my books and did this, because you're the most gorgeous geek I have the pleasure of being in love with. I even ordered a couple extra I'll lend you once I get around to reading them."

I glance at some of the novel titles. Safe Haven. Will Grayson, Will Grayson. The Heartbreakers. Fangirl. History is All You Left Me. Thirteen Reasons Why. I've read those books and loved each and every one of them. These are the books from the book list I once showed Edward on my laptop, the ones that I labeled with an asterisk because of how much I adored them. _And he remembered all of them._

I'm touched. This is exactly the sort of promposal my bookworm heart is fangirling for.

"I take back what I said. What I meant to say was 'hell fucking yes, Cullen.'"

He grins, moving back to a standing position. He lets go of my hands so his palms cup my cheeks. "Yes?"

"Yes!"

He beams, and without hesitation, presses his lips firmly on me. Mesmerized by the familiar sensation of our mouths bound together, it's as if I'm in a trance when our lips momentarily disconnect so we can move to his bed. As soon as my back is on the mattress, we return to our heated moment. My hands explore the contours of his back muscles through his shirt, trailing lower and lower until it's at his waist. Lingering my left hand on his hip, my right hand slips beneath his shirt.

He groans when my hand makes contact with his skin. Thrilled by his reaction, my left hand joins the right. Our kiss continues as my fingers touches him in a way I've never done before. As his shirt rises, he pulls back so he can gaze down at me.

"Do you want it off?"

I nod wordlessly. _Fuck, fuck, fuck. Shirtless Cullen. If I die right now, lemme die with this sight being the last thing I see._

I bite my lip, watching as he removes his shirt. In my head, I'm screaming to the point that someone from a distant continent could hear me. Seriously, no hot shirtless male fictional character makes me want to do numerous amount of naughty actions. Well, except maybe for Brendon Urie.

"See something you like?" he teases.

"You trying to pull an Emmett line on me?"

"Is it working?"

"Perhaps…"

He moves so the lower half of his body touches the area between my parted legs. My face heats up at the feeling of his hard-on. "How about this?"

"Definitely working." It's working too well that I boldly reach down to rub him through his jeans.

"Jesus Christ." His mouth latches on my neck. I yelp when his teeth sinks onto my shirt-covered shoulder.

"Did you just bite me?"

He nips at my shoulder. "Wanted to do that for a while."

"Marking your property, I see."

"B, you're not a house, but you are mine."

Damn his smooth-talking. "Okay, Cullen. Bite me again and I won't be able to stop myself from taking the rest of your clothes off."

He sighs, lifting his head and giving me a comical smile. "I wouldn't want you to."

"Do you want us to do it right here in broad daylight when your parents could come home at anytime?" I internally cringe and snicker at the thought of Carlisle or Esme getting an inerasable angle of his bare ass.

"No." He rolls off of me so his back lays on the mattress too. "You're right. I don't want us to remember our first time as my mom and dad seeing you naked."

"Our patience will be rewarded. Prom isn't too far away."

He grins, shifting himself so he lays sideways. "You want this to happen on prom night too?"

It would be cheesy, but I can't currently think of anywhere and anytime soon that we can do this. "Don't you want us to lose our virginities in the backseat of a limo?"

He scrunches his nose. "A limo would be uncomfortable. I'd rather we book a hotel room."

"Isn't that expensive?"

"My parents won't mind. I'm worried your Dad won't be on board."

"He will." It'll take some heavy convincing, but I'm sure he'll agree. He likes Edward and he'd do anything to make me happy as long as it doesn't involve myself breaking any laws.

"Hotel and limo, leave it to me. Just focus on your dress, shoes, makeup, hair, and whatever else girls do for prom."

"That's not fair! Lemme pitch in a bit."

"Bella-" he taps my nose, "It's our first prom. I have the money. If you think this is too much, you can buy the condoms."

"Edward!"

He laughs. "That's the only condition I'll agree on."

"Condom-shopping? Fuck, do you know how mortifying it'll be to the cashier who's gonna know why I need those condoms? I'm not a YouTuber and the condom challenge is dead."

"You're protecting yourself from unwanted consequences. The embarrassment is worth preventing a teen pregnancy and STD's."

I wish I wasn't born this shy. I could use the confidence to walk into a store and purchase a box of condoms without wanting to crawl under a rock from a cashier's scrutinizing stare.

"Fine. I'll buy the condoms. You take care of the hotel and limo."

I'm briefly startled when he pulls me on top of him, but it quickly goes away as he hugs me close.

"I can wait till prom, beautiful. We're gonna have so much fun."

* * *

 **I'm back! How long has it been? Six months? *realizes how long it has been and accepts whatever is thrown at me* I hope my explanation for being absent from the last A/N was enough for you to wait. I wanted to adjust to writing a couple of chapters for my other multi-chaptered fic before I returned to OPR.**

 **Except for Thirteen Reasons Why (I've been meaning to get to reading that book and watch the Netflix series), I've read all the books I mentioned. Fangirl is my personal favorite. As a fanfiction author, I relate to Cath so much.**


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